Only a BP to come home with . . .


It was a determined 1st XV squad that travelled to the Isle of Man for the rearranged fixture from early December 2023. After the short flight from Liverpool we were delighted to see a Port E Chee rugby pitch rather than a lake on arrival at Douglas RUFC and a notable absence of water pumping equipment. This meant we didn't have to wait on this trip until 5 minutes before kick off to know the game was definitely on.
Injuries, illness, and unavailability had shorn us of some regular starters; always a challenge for the coaching team and even more so for what was being dubbed as a "must win" match to give us a fighting chance of staying in the league.
Captain Briggs won the toss and elected to play the first half into a stiff Irish sea wind. From a long kick off we were immediately under pressure which set the tone for most of the first half against a strong Douglas pack and a back line boasting a full back who reminded the travelling army of 4 supporters of a certain Freddie Steward. An early kick out of our 22 into his hands gave us a very strong indication that we were in for a tough half.
Despite an impressive defensive set we went 7-0 down after a well worked Douglas back move put their no 9 in for a converted try after 8 minutes. More pressure a few minutes later resulted in a Douglas penalty to put them 10-0 up. At this point the team could have buckled but to their great credit they gathered themselves and started to take the game to both Douglas and the strong head wind. With Ben Walker pulling strings behind the pack, Ryan Terry and Tom Jameson making good hard yards, and Leandro, Alfie, Dunny and Oli Burrow leading the charge in the pack we started to dictate proceedings. The same could be said of the lineout where we won both our own ball and nicked a couple of theirs.
However, we were struggling in the scrum with Captain Briggs playing out of position at tight head prop against a very strong loose head. This resulted in an early change seeing the introduction of Tom Pratt to tight head, Briggsy to hooker and Oli Burrow to flanker. To his great credit the "sacrificial" departing Freddie Wallace at Flanker came off with his head held high and was reintroduced at No 8 when we lost Alfie Bradshaw to a shoulder injury after 25 minutes. Around the same time Archie Bamforth received a dead leg that despite manfully trying to run off, forced him off to be replaced by Sam Nicholson.
Again, the team rallied and following a midfield break from to the Douglas 22 we regrouped and proceeded to go through an impressive passage of play for 20+ phases over the course of 2-3 minutes involving all 15 Kirkby players that resulted in a try out wide for the hard working Tom Jameson. The wind prevented it from being converted but at 10-5 the tide had turned. We then gave a penalty away to go 13-5 down but further pressure in the Douglas half allowed Ben Walker to convert a penalty to go into half time at 13-8.
Playing with the wind in the 2nd half we aimed to pin Douglas down in their half and despite some strong defence from the well drilled Douglas XV we were rewarded with a cracking un-converted try from a James Lancaster lineout catch and rolling maul scored by Alfie Bradshaw to claw our way back to 13-10. Douglas responded well and started playing us at our own late 1st half game where some sustained pressure enabled them to score a converted try to get to 20-10.
However, despite a growing injury list we weren't out of it and with Ryan Terry starting to impose himself on the game with some strong running we responded well enabling Ben Walker to score a well worked try converted to get us within 3 points to 20-17. Douglas sensed the shift in momentum and started to resort to some under hand tactics, not least of which was one of the more bizarre incidents witnessed by a travelling Kirkby team where during a stoppage in play the Douglas "photographer" entered the field to shoulder barge our winger Charlie Oates. For his exploits the photographer received a ticking off from Hadders and the award of "tackle of the match" from the Douglas captain at the after match awards !
With around 5 minutes left on the clock and some battered and tired Kirkby bodies on the pitch we conceded a penalty in our 22 and a smart, low lick kick into the wind from the Douglas No 10 put them 23-17 up. But Kirkby were not to be unbowed and from the kick off our grit, spirit, tenacity and will were all in evident as we attempted to put together a series of phases to get down from our own 22 to their try line; but for a knock-on it was looking entirely possible but not to be.
A gritty, hard working, and at times uplifting performance from Kirkby 1st XV rewarded with a losing bonus point but not the 5 points we really wanted. The squad returned on the flight to Liverpool and home with heads held deservedly high and a continued quiet confidence intertwined with a bit of frustration in the knowledge that we can hold our own in this league.

RL
Photographs courtesy of Richard Ebbutt