Bottom side Colne & Nelson visit Vagabonds at Ballafletcher this weekend in Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire.

It’s the first part of a double header at the venue, with Vagas women also in action in the afternoon.

Lancashire side Colne lost both their opening fixtures, albeit difficult ones and will be keen to make an impression.

Vagas though will be buoyant after beating Burnley and will be targeting this game as a five-pointer.

The two sides have met five times previously with Colne just edging the wins 3-2, although Vagas sneaked the last meeting 26-24 back in March this year.

The Ballafletcher set-piece scrum worked well last week against Oldham. To begin with, they disrupted the flow of Oldham possession and at the end, even with Joe Louw off the field with injury, they delivered Matt Clowes a perfect launchpad to snatch the bonus-point try.

Assuming Louw shakes of his knock, the pack should be capable of upsetting Colne. Outside the forwards, Dan Bonwick looked sharp at 10, Cal Donnell made is trademark crashes in the centre and out wide the evergreen Ste Gawne used all his experience.

Vagas looked confident and capable, and should bag some more points against a Colne side who haven’t yet produced.

First versus second in women's rugby

With only one round of matches played in Women's NC2 North (West), it's probably a tad early to label a game this way, but the two shining lights from round one were undoubtedly Winnington Park and Vagabonds who meet at Ballafletcher this Saturday.

Vagas won big at Didsbury while Winnington Park walloped Southport 82-5. Winnington won both meetings last season which were high-scoring affairs. They also finished only one point above Vagas in the final standings, so on paper there’s little between them.

Vagas do have a not-so-secret secret weapon this time around: Isla Curphey is back and back with a bang. She picked up four tries in the opener and created space for Bea O’Neill and Freya Crowe.

These three could be the difference for Vagas this season, plus of course Maylyn Campbell if she appears. She was spotted in the crowd at Port-e-Chee last Saturday so could be available if selected.

On paper and previous results, Winnington Park should be the winners, but it remains to be seen whether the Curphey effect could upset the pecking order.

FIXTURES

Saturday, October 10:

Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire

Vagabonds v Colne & Nelson @ Ballafletcher ko 12.30pm

Women's NC2 North (West)

Vagabonds v Winnington Park @ Ballafletcher ko 2.15pm

Hartford Holmes Manx Shield

Ramsey v Southern Nomads @ Mooragh Park ko 2.15pm