Southern Nomads under-16s rugby team put in a great shift at Winnington Park in the opening round of the Cheshire Junior Cup at the weekend.  

The Manx side won 55-7 before being stranded by Storm Ashley for an extra night. 

The wet and windy morning led to a cautious start from both teams, but Nomads unfortunately lost captain Seb Meechan to leg injury.  

After an emergency reshuffle, Stan Cubbon moved into scrum-half and Nomads got to grips with the conditions. 

Control with consistent phases gave a good territorial advantage, but they struggled to convert this into points.  

Eventually a 40-metre run from flanker Fyn De Backer gave them the opening score, with Ethan Watt adding the conversion.  

With momentum now firmly with Nomads, Josh Linwood soon ran in for his first of the game. 

A hefty penalty count from repeated break down infringements gave Winnington Park some territory back and they pounded the Nomads defence with their powerful crash ball runners in the central channels.  

The Nomads boys dug in and refused to let them through, driving them backwards or into touch. Finally, the attack faltered and some quick hands put wing Abe Van Zyl into space and he lit up the afterburners to score. 

This was the pattern for the rest of the half as Nomads took a strong grip on the game, Van Zyl punishing Winnington Park with two more well worked tries and bagged his hat trick before the break.  

The rout was now well and truly underway. Linwood ran in a hat-trick of tries as the hosts crumbled and McHugh went in for his second after a fluffed clearance. Watt’s boot was busy too and among the try frenzy he added a further four conversions. 

Towards the final whistle, Nomads’ discipline faltered and allowed Winnington a deserved consolation try. 

But it didn’t take the gloss off a solid team effort with special mention for the front row and of course sponsor Riela Yachts without whom the trip wasn’t possible. 

DAVE CHRISTIAN