Sat 21 Mar 2026, 14:15
Southern Nomads beat Ramsey 12-8 to set up a Hartford Homes Manx Cup Final clash with Douglas Celts in the end of season finale. The two sides meet in a pool game for the Cup later in April but the result of that is irrelevant as both have now qualified for the final.
Ramsey started the game the better of the two. Their set piece scrum started to dominate and Nomads started to leak penalties. Eleven minutes in and the Ramsey forwards pounded the defence with big runs from Matt Meechan, Josh Kelly and Jared May. This forced Nomads to narrow their defence and allowed space out wide for Ramsey wing Brayden Roche to score.
Nomads did gain a little foothold as the game wore on with the Craine brothers making yardage but Ramsey held firm as did the Nomads defence at the other end, which left virtually all the first half scoreless until three minutes before the break when Ramsey’s Dan Kelly fired over a penalty to make the half time Ramsey lead 8-0.
The dynamic changed after half time. Nomads achieved scrum parity. This gave them a supply of clean ball and they were finally able to get their back line moving regularly. Seven minutes into the half Conor Stephens wriggled clear of the Ramsey defence and headed left. He put Nomads’ wing Alex Maher into some space and Maher finished off to reduce the lead to 8-5.
It then became Ramsey’s turn to defend as Nomads turned the screw. They were held up twice over the Ramsey line as they dominated territory and possession and Ramsey were essentially surviving on scraps. The clock however was ticking away and with just under five minutes to play, it looked like Ramsey might just cling on.
At this stage Nomads played their joker. Pace man Tony Quinn entered the fray. He was quickly into action but initially, well covered by the defence. With two minutes remaining however he finally got the ball with some space to work with. From fifty metres out he lit up the burners and outflanked the Ramsey defence to score under the posts with Zac Hand converting.
Ramsey started the game the better of the two. Their set piece scrum started to dominate and Nomads started to leak penalties. Eleven minutes in and the Ramsey forwards pounded the defence with big runs from Matt Meechan, Josh Kelly and Jared May. This forced Nomads to narrow their defence and allowed space out wide for Ramsey wing Brayden Roche to score.
Nomads did gain a little foothold as the game wore on with the Craine brothers making yardage but Ramsey held firm as did the Nomads defence at the other end, which left virtually all the first half scoreless until three minutes before the break when Ramsey’s Dan Kelly fired over a penalty to make the half time Ramsey lead 8-0.
The dynamic changed after half time. Nomads achieved scrum parity. This gave them a supply of clean ball and they were finally able to get their back line moving regularly. Seven minutes into the half Conor Stephens wriggled clear of the Ramsey defence and headed left. He put Nomads’ wing Alex Maher into some space and Maher finished off to reduce the lead to 8-5.
It then became Ramsey’s turn to defend as Nomads turned the screw. They were held up twice over the Ramsey line as they dominated territory and possession and Ramsey were essentially surviving on scraps. The clock however was ticking away and with just under five minutes to play, it looked like Ramsey might just cling on.
At this stage Nomads played their joker. Pace man Tony Quinn entered the fray. He was quickly into action but initially, well covered by the defence. With two minutes remaining however he finally got the ball with some space to work with. From fifty metres out he lit up the burners and outflanked the Ramsey defence to score under the posts with Zac Hand converting.
