By Dave Christian
There’s a full round of Shimmin Wilson Manx Shield matches this weekend with the pick of them perhaps at Glencrutchery Road where the oldest rivals in Manx rugby will have their second teams crossing swords when Vagabonds B meet Douglas B.
Douglas won the earlier encounter easily and Vagas have been fighting their way back from the foot of the table ever since.
Wins over Emerging Nomads and Castletown have bumped them up the table and a third straight win would put a huge dent in Douglas’ shield hopes.
Douglas’ first team have a home league fixture this weekend and this may just weaken the B team enough for Vagas to pull off a shock.
Elsewhere, Ramsey B take on Emerging Nomads at Mooragh Park and will be looking to avenge their earlier defeat.
Mike Caine skippers the Ramsey side this season and he’ll be urging his troops on.
First team call-ups are on the cards for those performing well enough which is a big incentive.
Nomads were pretty dogged against Vagabonds B when I saw them two weeks ago, but they lacked penetration and with Furo Davies due back in the round ball game, they may well lack even more and Ramsey may just bag the points.
The final game is a southern derby at Poulsom Park where Castletown hosts Southern Nomads.
This is a repeat of a Manx Cup game a few weeks back and Nomads won that one albeit after a bit of an early battle. Expect something similar this time around.
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