Northwich RUFC beaten at home by Isle of Man side Douglas

This follows their 30-10 home defeat to Douglas on Saturday, along with Birkenhead Park and Firwood Waterloo both winning.

Their next match, away to seventh-placed Winnington Park on Saturday, February 14, will take on extra importance as they bid to stay out of the bottom two – with West Park currently only three points behind.

From the start against Douglas it was clear that it would be a hard-fought contest, with both sides showing clear intentions.

The Manxmen posted the first score when they were awarded a five-metre scrum from which a drive was initiated that resulted in a converted try.

The response from Blacks was swift when Harry Owens, on for the injured Tom Husbands, returned a clearance kick and Tom Clark was released to score a try that was converted by Alex Speakman.

It wasn’t until the 25th minute that the next score was posted, a high tackle giving the visitors a penalty kick which restored their lead to three points.

On the stroke of half-time Northwich were awarded a penalty and with Speakman in the sin-bin Hurjo Besuidenhout stepped up to slot the kick and take the match into the break all square at 10-10.

Within three minutes of the restart Douglas kicked another penalty after a Northwich tackler failed to release.

The next 20 minutes were a dogfight with both sides slugging it out.

Northwich’s forwards, led by Rory Leijdekkers, were always searching for that decisive break but despite all their efforts failed to cross the line.

Man-of-the-match Sean Tigere was tireless in his direct running, but it was Douglas who extended their lead with a well-drilled move off an attacking lineout.

The extras went begging but a two-score lead had been established.

For the rest of the match the home side mounted attacks on the visitors’ line, but the defensive line held firm.

In the final three minutes the Manxmen scored two tries - the first from a lineout that was converted; the second came deep in stoppage time with a fine move.