EMERGING Nomads knocked Plate holders Ramsey B out of the competition at a rearranged Poulsom Park venue in Castletown on Saturday.
Number Eight Gaz Watts was outstanding for Nomads and at the heart of everything they did.
As with many cup ties, the game started slowly. Ramsey seemed to look sharper in the back line but Nomads were stronger in the forwards.
Emerging Nomads stand-off Mark Beggs used the wind well and started to kick deep into the Ramsey half to allow his forwards some set-piece opportunities, one of which led to the opening score.
A five-metre scrum saw Ramsey under some pressure up front and with the back row all tied up in holding the push, Watt drove from the number eight position and offloaded to his flanker Chris Beaumont who dived in for the try.
Ten minutes later the lead was doubled. Nomads scrum half Dave Edge made a break up the right touchline. He was brought down just short of the line but Ramsey killed the ball at the breakdown and referee John Higginbotham had no hesitation in awarding the penalty try. Edge converted this and Nomads were 12-0 in front.
As half-time approached it got worse for Ramsey. A mishit clearance kick was fielded by Nomads’ Josh Samuels on halfway and in space. He wove his way through some loose tackling to score under the posts. Edge converted again and Nomads were 19-0 ahead.
In stoppage time at the end of the half, Ramsey finally came to the party. Stand-off Tom Moss, impressive in his first game at 10, made the line break and got behind the Nomads defence. With hooker Mike Caine acting as the link man, prop Orry Watterson finished it off to leave Nomads 19-5 ahead and Ramsey wondering whether the wind would be enough to catch them up.
With 10 minutes remaining it looked like Nomads, enjoying a 14-point lead, would hold on, but the game exploded into life again when Ramsey finally cracked the opposition’s defence.
Dan Bonwick was over the line but adjudged to be held up. From the scrummage, Nomads conceded a free kick and Bonwick spun it left where centre Craig Harlick went in for his first Ramsey try, reducing the Nomads lead to 19-10.
From the restart it all went Pete Tong for Ramsey when they failed to gather the Nomads kick-off. Gaz Watt swept up the bouncing ball and moved it quickly to his right where wing Kieran Stephens slid in to restore the gap.
Ramsey then restarted but with no real chasers, Nomads were able to put their pace man Gerard Landells into space and he made no mistake. Brother Alistair converted and Nomads were almost there.
With three minutes left, Ramsey’s Moss forced his way over the Nomads line from close range. Bonwick converted to leave Ramsey needing two converted tries in as many minutes to force extra time and it was simply too big an ask. This was a proper cup tie and a credit to both teams and referee John Higginbotham.