Douglas 7, Ruskin Park 10

A GREAT team effort earned Ruskin their first league win on the Isle of Man.

Winning the toss, Gary Pennington chose to play against the strong wind, gambling on his defence holding out in the first half and putting pressure on the opposition in the second.

His plan worked perfectly. For 40 minutes, the Manxmen put Ruskin under severe pressure, but the visitors' defence, with Paul Fenney outstanding, held firm, and though they went close on a number of occasions, Douglas could only manage one converted try.

In the second period it was Ruskin's turn to attack. Some well controlled forward play gave stand in scrum-half Mark Lightfoot the chance to get his back line moving, and some neat kicks by Dave Birch kept Douglas pinned back. After two long range penalties by Steve Garvey had both hit the post, Dave Birch put in a delightful chip to the line, and won the race to the touchdown. Steve Garvey converted, and 10 minutes from time landed a penalty to give Ruskin the lead. Back came Douglas, and seemed to have won the game in the dying seconds, when, after a fine bout of passing, the full-back looked certain to score, but Gary Smith came across and stopped him with a magnificent tackle, to save the day.

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