While it’s something of a rarity these days mainly due to the Rugby World Cup, there is a full round of matches scheduled in the Shimmin Wilson Shield this Saturday.
Early pacesetters Douglas B currently top the table and they host Noa Nomads at Port-e-Chee.
The Nomads newbies are putting on a reasonable show in their first season and are solid enough in the set piece.
Mark Shortland, however, seems to have found a settled heart for his team and this spells danger for the opposition. As a result the Port-e-Chee outfit are averaging more than 60 points per game and should take the honours in this one.
At Ballafletcher, Emerging Nomads take on Vagabonds B. Vagas have only had one outing so far and will be keen to put on a good performance.
New Vagas skipper Paul Howard takes the reins for only the second time in charge and should have enough in the tank to bag win number two.
At Mooragh Park PDMS Southern Nomads try to finalise their build up to next week’s Cheshire Bowl clash with Dukinfield.
As usual, Nomads’ preparation has been hampered by fixture call offs, but hopefully this will ensure that the squad is fresh if perhaps a little undercooked.
James Wren at Ramsey also leads an unbeaten side and he may just fancy their chances. On paper, however, it should be a Nomads win.
In the final game, Castletown visit QEII School to take on Western Vikings.
The Peel men fared well against Douglas B last week but are currently bottom of the standings, albeit at a very early stage.
Vikings skipper Ed Alderson will want maximum points from this game and he should get them.
Saturday’s fixtures:
South Lancashire/Cheshire Division One
Northwich v Douglas @ Northwich
Cheshire (South)
Linley v Ramsey @ Linley ko 2.30pm
Knutsford v Vagabonds @ Knutsford
Women’s NC North One
Ormskirk v Vagabonds @ Ormskirk
Shimmin Wilson Manx Shield
all ko 2.15pm
Douglas B v Noa Nomads @ Port-e-Chee
Vagabonds B v Emerging Nomads @ Ballafletcher
Ramsey B v PDMS Southern Nomads @ Mooragh Park
Western Vikings v Castletown @ QEII