After three defeats on the bounce the Douglas duck was firmly broken at Port-e-Chee with a 53-6 win against fourth-place Vale of Lune in Regional Two North West on Saturday.

Douglas led 17-3 at the break but in a stunning second half the visitors were blown away.

In the early exchanges the two sides traded penalties.

Bryn Snellgrove’s effort gave Douglas the lead after four minutes, but by 12 Vale were back level when Chris Ramwell knocked one over at the other end.

The pair also missed one each as the first quarter of the game ticked by with no further score.

In the 24th minute Snellgrove finally set the wheels rolling.

He fired a towering kick into the Vale 22 with Kyle Martin and Charlie Henthorn in pursuit.

They managed to recover the ball and Henthorn’s short run stretched the retreating defence. Quick ruck ball found hooker Gihard Visagie charging hard and he burst through to score. Snellgrove converted for a 10-3 lead.

Five minutes later a midfield penalty was handed to Snellgrove who kicked for the corner.

Blake Snell secured the lineout ball and in a training-ground move prop Si Hoddinott peeled round the front of the line to score out wide.

Snellgrove again converted to give Douglas a 17-3 half-time lead.

Second halves hadn’t been kind to Douglas in recent weeks and the Port-e-Chee faithful weren’t fully convinced and when Ramwell kicked his second penalty of the afternoon only two minutes in, there was a ripple of jitters on the touchline.

They didn’t last long and three minutes after the penalty, Douglas restored order.

Sam McCord made a half break down the right wing. Quick ball was crashed into the defence by Mark Oldfield who tied up three defenders.

Quick ball again saw Snellgrove exploit the space Oldfield had created and he stepped inside his marker and headed for the line. He drew the fullback and popped a short pass to Brendan Kelly to finish off.

Snellgrove then added the conversion and Douglas were 24-6 to the good.

Just after the quarter hour Harry Hewson grabbed the all-important fourth try after a stunning solo run which saw him beat at least four defenders.

Snellgrove again converted and a few minutes later added a penalty for good measure which saw the Manx side comfortably ahead 34-6 with 15 to play.

In a final flourish Douglas added three more tries.

McCord bagged two with some high-speed running down the right-hand touchline and Visagie finished off a catch-and-drive lineout for his second of the game.

Snellgrove converted two from the three to finish the game with an 18-point haul, Vale of Lune finishing with 14 men after lock was red carded by referee Catherine Ansell after a late skirmmish broke out.

Douglas, who now sit ninth in the 12-team standings, are back in action on October 12 when they travel to Sandbach.

DAVE CHRISTIAN