Sat 14 May 2022, 16:00
With the appetiser over, the main course arrived and what a dish it was. Ramsey on their home ground, with a big home crowd and an unbeaten record were the overwhelming favourites. They weren’t however prepared for the side order of gritty determination which Vagabonds brought to the table and saw the sides locked together 26-26 at full time and sent the match into extra time with Dan Bonwick snatching the winner just four minutes away from a drop goal shootout.
Ramsey opened the scoring just four minutes in. Dan Richmond quickly tapped a five metre penalty and dived in under the Vagabonds posts. He converted his own score for a 7-0 lead. Four minutes later Ramsey wing Danny Howard broke clear down the right wing. Cam Findlay ended Howard’s run but couldn’t prevent a floated offload to Dan Bonwick and he raced in for his first of the game and a 12-0 lead.
Vagas then came to the party. Luca Simmons kicked intelligently for field position and earned a 50/22. Vagas shortened their line out and secured a catch and drive which earned some yards and indicated that their set piece was effective. On fifteen minutes they earned a line out five metres from the Ramsey line and used the same move. Ethan Kermode secured the ball and the forwards rumbled over the line with prop Luke Purdy getting the touch down.
Midway through the half Ramsey extended their lead. Danny Howard was again the line breaker but this time he had a little more operating space and his speed allowed him to outflank the Vagas defence to make it 19-5 which is how it stayed until half time.
Five minutes into the second half, Vagas turned the screw and a string of penalties saw Ramsey skipper Matt Meechan sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. Ramsey turned over the Vagas ball from the ensuing penalty and with the ball heading towards Bonwick’s boot it looked like the danger was over. The ball however skidded off the outside of his foot and went high and right to the edge of the twenty two. Hope Chirengwa and Danny Howard both went for the high ball and Chirengwa’s running line saw him catch the ball cleanly without breaking stride and gave him a simple run in. Luca Simmons converted to leave Vagas very much in touch at 19-12.
Still a man down, it was Ramsey’s turn to attack. Eddie Lord and Adam Dunlop both carried well in midfield but it was prop Rory Nicholson who made the big inroads inside the Vagas twenty two. He got to with a yard of the try line. As Ramsey struggled to apply the finishing touch, referee Daryn Thompson spotted some jiggery pokery in the ruck and awarded Ramsey a penalty try which took the lead up to 26-12.
As an hour ticked by Vagas made some changes which almost immediately took effect. Nathan Gibson came on at number eight, Matty Williams at nine and Will Taylor at ten. Gibson carried as impressively as ever, Williams fizzed the ball away from the base and Taylor pulled the strings with Simmons just outside him for kicking options. In the sixty fourth minute Taylor’s perfectly weighted flat pass back inside found centre Ross McCulloch at ramming speed and he punched through the Ramsey back line to score. Simmons converted to bring Vagas to within a score at 26-19.
Dan Richmond missed a penalty for Ramsey with ten to go but as the minutes ticked away the real pressure was coming at the other end. The Vagas set piece scrummage was starting to fire and Ramsey found themselves under the cosh. They held out until the seventy ninth minute when a series of scrummages and penalties within five metres of the line led to a penalty try for Vagas and a tied game which meant ten minutes each way of extra time.
Two minutes into period one, Ramsey took the lead. Kieran Kneale broke clear down the left wing and he found Fintan Cummins in support. Cummins needed no second invitation and he finished to the delight of the home support. The excitement was short lived though. Three minutes later Taylor swept the ball to Vagas’ left flank where Ross McCulloch dived in for his second to level the score at 31-31. Vagas had a chance right at the end of the first period but Luca Simmons’ long range penalty fell just short.
Four minutes into period two with Ramsey on the attack, it was Vagas’ turn to suffer some discipline issues. Nathan Gibson killed off a Ramsey ruck from the side and was shown a yellow card. From the next play Mark Oldfield’s elbow was a little high for referee Thompson’s liking and he got one too. Missing two back rowers meant a Ramsey score was almost inevitable and it was Bonwick who got it. A close range run saw him use every dance move in his book to skip through the defence for the cup winning try. A late yellow for Cam Findlay saw Vagas finish the game with twelve men and missing three key men left the remaining players with too much of a mountain to climb.
Ramsey opened the scoring just four minutes in. Dan Richmond quickly tapped a five metre penalty and dived in under the Vagabonds posts. He converted his own score for a 7-0 lead. Four minutes later Ramsey wing Danny Howard broke clear down the right wing. Cam Findlay ended Howard’s run but couldn’t prevent a floated offload to Dan Bonwick and he raced in for his first of the game and a 12-0 lead.
Vagas then came to the party. Luca Simmons kicked intelligently for field position and earned a 50/22. Vagas shortened their line out and secured a catch and drive which earned some yards and indicated that their set piece was effective. On fifteen minutes they earned a line out five metres from the Ramsey line and used the same move. Ethan Kermode secured the ball and the forwards rumbled over the line with prop Luke Purdy getting the touch down.
Midway through the half Ramsey extended their lead. Danny Howard was again the line breaker but this time he had a little more operating space and his speed allowed him to outflank the Vagas defence to make it 19-5 which is how it stayed until half time.
Five minutes into the second half, Vagas turned the screw and a string of penalties saw Ramsey skipper Matt Meechan sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. Ramsey turned over the Vagas ball from the ensuing penalty and with the ball heading towards Bonwick’s boot it looked like the danger was over. The ball however skidded off the outside of his foot and went high and right to the edge of the twenty two. Hope Chirengwa and Danny Howard both went for the high ball and Chirengwa’s running line saw him catch the ball cleanly without breaking stride and gave him a simple run in. Luca Simmons converted to leave Vagas very much in touch at 19-12.
Still a man down, it was Ramsey’s turn to attack. Eddie Lord and Adam Dunlop both carried well in midfield but it was prop Rory Nicholson who made the big inroads inside the Vagas twenty two. He got to with a yard of the try line. As Ramsey struggled to apply the finishing touch, referee Daryn Thompson spotted some jiggery pokery in the ruck and awarded Ramsey a penalty try which took the lead up to 26-12.
As an hour ticked by Vagas made some changes which almost immediately took effect. Nathan Gibson came on at number eight, Matty Williams at nine and Will Taylor at ten. Gibson carried as impressively as ever, Williams fizzed the ball away from the base and Taylor pulled the strings with Simmons just outside him for kicking options. In the sixty fourth minute Taylor’s perfectly weighted flat pass back inside found centre Ross McCulloch at ramming speed and he punched through the Ramsey back line to score. Simmons converted to bring Vagas to within a score at 26-19.
Dan Richmond missed a penalty for Ramsey with ten to go but as the minutes ticked away the real pressure was coming at the other end. The Vagas set piece scrummage was starting to fire and Ramsey found themselves under the cosh. They held out until the seventy ninth minute when a series of scrummages and penalties within five metres of the line led to a penalty try for Vagas and a tied game which meant ten minutes each way of extra time.
Two minutes into period one, Ramsey took the lead. Kieran Kneale broke clear down the left wing and he found Fintan Cummins in support. Cummins needed no second invitation and he finished to the delight of the home support. The excitement was short lived though. Three minutes later Taylor swept the ball to Vagas’ left flank where Ross McCulloch dived in for his second to level the score at 31-31. Vagas had a chance right at the end of the first period but Luca Simmons’ long range penalty fell just short.
Four minutes into period two with Ramsey on the attack, it was Vagas’ turn to suffer some discipline issues. Nathan Gibson killed off a Ramsey ruck from the side and was shown a yellow card. From the next play Mark Oldfield’s elbow was a little high for referee Thompson’s liking and he got one too. Missing two back rowers meant a Ramsey score was almost inevitable and it was Bonwick who got it. A close range run saw him use every dance move in his book to skip through the defence for the cup winning try. A late yellow for Cam Findlay saw Vagas finish the game with twelve men and missing three key men left the remaining players with too much of a mountain to climb.
