Sat 2 Apr 2022, 14:15
Danny Howard scores the opener for the Reds
Ramsey came out 62-24 winners in an entertaining Ravenscroft Manx Cup tie against Sure Vagabonds at the Mooragh Park in a match where the score line didn’t fully reflect the game. Ramsey led 22-14 at half time and with an hour gone Vagas trailed 34-24, before the floodgates opened in the final twenty minutes.
Vagabonds opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Ramsey poured forward into the Vagas twenty-two however a loose pass was picked off by Luca Simmons and he raced seventy metres to score under the posts at the other end. He converted his own try for a 7-0 lead. Ramsey equalised five minutes later though. Matt Meechan had crashed in a tapped penalty. Vagas obligingly conceded a second and Dan Richmond found Jared May who bashed over from short range. Richmond converted to level the score.
Ramsey’s back line then finally hit its straps and the quick wings were suddenly on the board. Danny Howard got the first when he had too much pace for the Vagas defence on the right flank and he was soon followed in by Brandon Atchison in similar fashion down the left. These two tries pushed the Ramsey lead out to 17-7 and this became 22-7 on the half hour. Vagas earned a midfield scrum around forty metres from their line. The ball squirted out the side and Ramsey scrum half Dan Richmond was quickest to react. He scooped up the ball and darted in unopposed.
As half time approached Vagas finally strung some phases together and punched their way into the Ramsey twenty-two. A penalty gave them a catch and drive lineout option. Ethan Kermode secured possession and although the drive faltered, the ball was released to the back line. Luca Simmons was brought down shy of the line as was Paul Howard before the ball was popped to big second row Connor Coulthard and there was no stopping him from a yard out. Simmons converted to leave Ramsey leading by eight at the break.
Simmons kicked a penalty for Vagas two minutes into the second half to reduce the Ramsey lead to just five points. Ramsey then stuck back with two pieces of play from Jared May. A Rory Nicholson tap penalty earned the first score. His run was followed up by May who sucked in the defence and released Danny Howard for his second of the game. A few minutes later another tapped penalty saw May join the Ramsey back line and float a perfect pass over the defence to find Brandon Atchison who raced in for his second which Dan Richmond converted.
Trailing 34-17 Vagas as the final quarter approached Vagas needed a break and it came on the hour. Ramsey had conceded a string of penalties and had been given a team warning by referee Daryn Thompson. Vagas crashed the penalty but there was a high tackle in the process from Ramsey’s Dan Bonwick and he got the team yellow card for his troubles. With an extra man in the forwards Vagas opted for route one and prop Luke Purdy muscled his way over the line. Luca Simmons converted to reduce the deficit to ten.
Sadly for Vagas, the tank had been emptied and as the legs tired, Ramsey took advantage. Ross Quayle was within inches of a score but Rory Nicholson was on hand to finish it for the youngster. Kieran Kneale then found a gap in the Vagas line and his forty-metre break was finished off by his centre partner Jake Richmond. Brother Dan then sneaked in from the base of a ruck for his second of the game and finally the Richmond brothers combined to send Fintan Cummins in for a last-minute score which he converted himself. Dan Richmond had chipped away with conversions during the second half and finished with a personal twenty-point bag.
Vagabonds opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Ramsey poured forward into the Vagas twenty-two however a loose pass was picked off by Luca Simmons and he raced seventy metres to score under the posts at the other end. He converted his own try for a 7-0 lead. Ramsey equalised five minutes later though. Matt Meechan had crashed in a tapped penalty. Vagas obligingly conceded a second and Dan Richmond found Jared May who bashed over from short range. Richmond converted to level the score.
Ramsey’s back line then finally hit its straps and the quick wings were suddenly on the board. Danny Howard got the first when he had too much pace for the Vagas defence on the right flank and he was soon followed in by Brandon Atchison in similar fashion down the left. These two tries pushed the Ramsey lead out to 17-7 and this became 22-7 on the half hour. Vagas earned a midfield scrum around forty metres from their line. The ball squirted out the side and Ramsey scrum half Dan Richmond was quickest to react. He scooped up the ball and darted in unopposed.
As half time approached Vagas finally strung some phases together and punched their way into the Ramsey twenty-two. A penalty gave them a catch and drive lineout option. Ethan Kermode secured possession and although the drive faltered, the ball was released to the back line. Luca Simmons was brought down shy of the line as was Paul Howard before the ball was popped to big second row Connor Coulthard and there was no stopping him from a yard out. Simmons converted to leave Ramsey leading by eight at the break.
Simmons kicked a penalty for Vagas two minutes into the second half to reduce the Ramsey lead to just five points. Ramsey then stuck back with two pieces of play from Jared May. A Rory Nicholson tap penalty earned the first score. His run was followed up by May who sucked in the defence and released Danny Howard for his second of the game. A few minutes later another tapped penalty saw May join the Ramsey back line and float a perfect pass over the defence to find Brandon Atchison who raced in for his second which Dan Richmond converted.
Trailing 34-17 Vagas as the final quarter approached Vagas needed a break and it came on the hour. Ramsey had conceded a string of penalties and had been given a team warning by referee Daryn Thompson. Vagas crashed the penalty but there was a high tackle in the process from Ramsey’s Dan Bonwick and he got the team yellow card for his troubles. With an extra man in the forwards Vagas opted for route one and prop Luke Purdy muscled his way over the line. Luca Simmons converted to reduce the deficit to ten.
Sadly for Vagas, the tank had been emptied and as the legs tired, Ramsey took advantage. Ross Quayle was within inches of a score but Rory Nicholson was on hand to finish it for the youngster. Kieran Kneale then found a gap in the Vagas line and his forty-metre break was finished off by his centre partner Jake Richmond. Brother Dan then sneaked in from the base of a ruck for his second of the game and finally the Richmond brothers combined to send Fintan Cummins in for a last-minute score which he converted himself. Dan Richmond had chipped away with conversions during the second half and finished with a personal twenty-point bag.
