Sat 2 Oct 2021, 14:15
A Brandon Atchison hat trick was the highlight of an emphatic win for Ramsey in their opening Manx Trophy game cruising past Vagabonds 64-15 at Ballafletcher.
Ramsey opened up the scoring in the twelfth minute. Full back Fintan Cummins joined the Ramsey line as an extra man and created an overlap on the left wing where Ramsey rocketship Brandon Atchison was lurking. He accelerated down the touchline and just made it to the line. Dan Richmond converted for a 7-0 lead. It took a further quarter of an hour to break down a gritty Vagas defence though. Richmond missed a penalty just after twenty minutes but four minutes later made amends.
Vagas fumbled their own scrum ball and referee Daryn Thompson ordered a reset with a Ramsey feed. Richmond shipped the ball to midfield, Dan Bonwick chipped over the rush defence and Atchison’s pace did the rest. Richmond converted to double the lead to 14-0. Vagas hit back immediately from the restart. Jon Reilly worked his way just shy of the Ramsey twenty two and the defence went offside at the breakdown leaving a simple penalty which Cam Findlay knocked over to reduce the deficit to 14-3.
This time it was Ramsey’s turn to strike back. They worked their way into the Vagas twenty two and after a string of close range penalties Dan Bonwick burst through the defence from close range. Richmond again converted. As half time approached Ramsey extended their lead again. For once, Brandon Atchison’s pace couldn’t get him clear on the left wing. The ball was however recycled and moved to the other wing with Fintan Cummins applying the finish to leave the northerners 26-3 ahead at the break.
From the restart, Vagabonds hit back. Centres Callum Donnell and Connor Gauci linked up on the right and interplayed their way through the Ramsey line with Gauci applying the finish. Cam Findlay added the extras to make it 26-10 and an unlikely comeback seemed possible. Vagas however then hit the self-destruct button. Number eight Mark Oldfield was shown a red card for some inappropriate footwork and shortly afterwards wing Steve Gawne picked up a yellow for a high tackle.
This left Ramsey facing thirteen men and they made hay while the sun shone. Connor Cracknell was driven over from a catch and drive line out, Dan Richmond wriggled clear of a half tackle to score and Dan Bonwick bagged his second of the game with Richmond adding two more conversions to increase the lead to 45-10. Nathan Gibson clawed one back for Vagas at the other end but that only briefly stemmed the tide. Fintan Cummins sent Atchison clear to complete his hat trick and second half replacement Callum Clague completed the rout with two late tries to ice the Ramsey cake.
Ramsey opened up the scoring in the twelfth minute. Full back Fintan Cummins joined the Ramsey line as an extra man and created an overlap on the left wing where Ramsey rocketship Brandon Atchison was lurking. He accelerated down the touchline and just made it to the line. Dan Richmond converted for a 7-0 lead. It took a further quarter of an hour to break down a gritty Vagas defence though. Richmond missed a penalty just after twenty minutes but four minutes later made amends.
Vagas fumbled their own scrum ball and referee Daryn Thompson ordered a reset with a Ramsey feed. Richmond shipped the ball to midfield, Dan Bonwick chipped over the rush defence and Atchison’s pace did the rest. Richmond converted to double the lead to 14-0. Vagas hit back immediately from the restart. Jon Reilly worked his way just shy of the Ramsey twenty two and the defence went offside at the breakdown leaving a simple penalty which Cam Findlay knocked over to reduce the deficit to 14-3.
This time it was Ramsey’s turn to strike back. They worked their way into the Vagas twenty two and after a string of close range penalties Dan Bonwick burst through the defence from close range. Richmond again converted. As half time approached Ramsey extended their lead again. For once, Brandon Atchison’s pace couldn’t get him clear on the left wing. The ball was however recycled and moved to the other wing with Fintan Cummins applying the finish to leave the northerners 26-3 ahead at the break.
From the restart, Vagabonds hit back. Centres Callum Donnell and Connor Gauci linked up on the right and interplayed their way through the Ramsey line with Gauci applying the finish. Cam Findlay added the extras to make it 26-10 and an unlikely comeback seemed possible. Vagas however then hit the self-destruct button. Number eight Mark Oldfield was shown a red card for some inappropriate footwork and shortly afterwards wing Steve Gawne picked up a yellow for a high tackle.
This left Ramsey facing thirteen men and they made hay while the sun shone. Connor Cracknell was driven over from a catch and drive line out, Dan Richmond wriggled clear of a half tackle to score and Dan Bonwick bagged his second of the game with Richmond adding two more conversions to increase the lead to 45-10. Nathan Gibson clawed one back for Vagas at the other end but that only briefly stemmed the tide. Fintan Cummins sent Atchison clear to complete his hat trick and second half replacement Callum Clague completed the rout with two late tries to ice the Ramsey cake.
