Match Preview

This Saturday, we visit Douglas in the Isle of Man for our first game in the island since March 2017.

The Manxmen are currently 3rd, having won six of their nine games. Traditionally strong at home, they are unbeaten at Port-E-Chee this term and have only lost, somewhat surprisingly, to those Mancunian neighbours, Manchester, Broughton Park and, last week, Stockport.

They have already accounted for leaders Carlisle and put over fifty points on our last opponents, Penrith.

Douglas are having their best season since they were promoted from South Lancashire/Cheshire 1 with Manchester in 2016-17. Last season they finished a respectable ninth in North One West.

The season they were promoted, Anselmians were thrashed 0-47 at Eastham and lost 36-15 on the island. In 2015-16, when we finished eighth and Douglas were sixth, we lost away 31-12, but won at Malone Field, 40-20.

In 2014-15, we again won at home 37-16, but lost away, 45-32. Once again, we finished two places ahead in the final league, table ending up eighth when Douglas were tenth.

In fact, we must go back to 2014 to find the last time Anselmians left the island with a victory. In the March, we triumphed 22-26 to complete a rare double, having won at home the previous November, 33-27.

Visits to the Isle of Man are always enjoyable, but the rugby is competitive and challenging. There were glimpses against Penrith of what this Saints side is capable of, but they cannot afford the lapses of concentration and avoidable errors which have characterised this campaign thus far.