2E2 Douglas continued their impressive 100 per cent start to the South Lancashire and Cheshire Division Two season with a 6-25 win at Oldershaw on Saturday.
However, desipte the scoreline, Douglas never really expressed themselves fully on the game against a physical Oldershaw side.
The first 20 minutes of the game was a bit of a damp squib with neither side putting their stamp on the game.
Douglas skipper Scott Goodall landed two penalties before the Oldershaw 10 landed a penalty and a drop goal.
This seemed to spark the Port-e-Chee outfit into life.
Bryn Snellgrove sent a cross-field kick to the touch line where Ryan Maddox collected and brushed off the winger to score the game’s first try. This gave the promotion-chasing Manx side a 11-6 advantage at the half-time break.
The Manx started the second period much better than the first. With Daryn Thompson’s half-time words ringing in the ears of the forwards, Carl Markl-Ferns was all over the Oldershaw catcher straight from kick-off and the latter duly spilt the ball.
From the scrum Snellgrove fed Goodall who slid in for the try, which he converted.
The Douglas forwards then came to the party and a series of mauls from their own 10 and a penalty allowed Snellgrove to put the ball in the corner.
The Douglas forwards carried and Glyn Hooson-Owen went over for the score, which was again converted by Goodall.
The rest of the game Douglas found themselves defending against a very spirited Oldershaw side who never gave up for one minute.
Some bodies-on-the-line tackling from Douglas was the only reason the Merseyside outfit never got the score they were after.
Douglas were again not at full tilt this week and were patchy but their defensive application was good as no one shirked their duties.
The Manx outfit are still not at their best but are managing to grind out victories and this can only be a positive for the future
This Saturday Douglas take on Ramsey in what promises to be a good game of attacking and open rugby in the first installment of the Manx trilogy.