Lancaster side Vale of Lune travel to Douglas and Port-e-Chee for the fourth round of fixtures in the level six National League campaign this Saturday.

The weekend’s visitors have two wins under their belts, last week versus Crewe & Nantwich and Northwich in the opening fixture.

The caning at Bowdon in between simply highlights how competitive the Regional Two North West league is, as Bowdon were beaten at newcomers Sandbach last Saturday. 

While victory less Douglas were on the cusp of a precious away win in round three and fell at the last, they looked the real deal for much of the match and reaped two bonus points, a rare commodity on the road.

The Manx side will be stronger for the experience, and there’s good news on the selection front as Carl Markl-Ferns, James Ross and Josh Duncan should be available, and Owen Carvin, the promising young prop, has a better prognosis that may see him back in contention sooner than thought.

Markl-Ferns brings options for coach Phil Cringle in the pack, although not much was wrong at the coal face with Harry Cartwright moved up to lock. 

Ross is another piece of the jigsaw that could fall nicely in to place among the three-quarters.

His delayed debut because of injury has been frustrating for player and club, but the temptation to return too quickly has been wisely avoided and will pay dividends.

Duncan’s temporary absence prompted Bryn Snellgrove’s return last week which harvested eight points from the tee, and the phrase ‘cometh the hour‘ springs to mind.

Whether it was a full-on Lazurus epic or a brief cameo from Snellgrove is yet to be determined, but either way his club called and he responded.

Kick-off is 2pm.

TONY WILSON-SPRATT