Douglas Rugby Club chalked up a second precious away win of the season with a blockbusting six-try performance against Winnington Park at Burrows Hill on Saturday.

The result sees Douglas move to within one point of sixth place in Regional Two North West.

Jonty Cope gave Douglas the perfect start by carving through centre field to score a ninth-minute try under the posts for Nathan Robson to convert.

Park hit back with a 12th-minute penalty from outside-half Cameron Flanagan and sustained the pressure until Flanagan ghosted through for a try and converted for 10-7.

The home side ramped up their attacks but, although on the front foot, big second-row Gary Dykes and powerful flanker Phil Lynch made little headway against solid tackling from the Douglas backrow.

Harry Cartwright’s move to number eight alongside Mark Oldfield and Blake Everson dovetailed well, and gradually the Douglas unit took the upperhand.

Douglas began to take even more control up front when Simon Hoddinott joined the fray off the bench at half-time.

A scrum on the Park 22-metre line was marched over the try line by the superior power of the Douglas pack and, after Park again tried to snaffle the ball illegally, the referee was left with little choice but to award a penalty try and 10-14.

The home side were error strewn in their attempts to get back on terms and, when Park winger Sanele Matetwa threw an ambitious pass, Charlie Henthorn picked it off. He stepped his opposite number and raced away for a long-range effort to give Douglas some breathing space.

Robson converted again for 10-21, only for two Douglas yellow cards in the 55th and 57th minutes threaten to derail their momentum - skipper Blake Snell was pinged for collapsing a rolling maul and James Ross joined him following a high tackle.

Park were still in the game but, as the clock ticked and the hosts were frustrated by a dogged defence, so Douglas confidence in their own resistance grew.

Park indiscipline surfaced, firstly conceding a penalty when in possession near the Douglas line, followed by consecutive backchat to the referee which enabled Josh Duncan to rifle the ball downfield.

Once back to a full-player compliment, the game was there for the taking as all momentum returned to the Manx side.

Over the last 10 minutes, a frantic flurry of three tries gave the scoreline a more honest reflection of the visitors’ second-half dominance.

Hooker Gihard Visagie gathered his own deft chip over the defence, but was felled just short of the try line. Fellow front-row man Hoddinott was up in support to score out wide for the bonus-point try, and Park knew the game was up at 10-26.

Douglas dominated a 75th-minute scrum and Conor Stephens off the bench gave winger Kyle Martin the chance to burn two defenders with sheer pace and score near the posts for 10-33.

A back-row change saw the industrious Everson replaced with Ryan Wren who immediately capped a 10-minute cameo with a maiden Douglas try from close range.

Snell found space out wide and was downed six metres from the line, only for Wren to thunder over, dragging a defender along for the ride.

Robson’s fourth successful conversion brought up 40 points and Douglas can look forward to successive home games on February 1 and 8 against Burnage and Eccles.

BEN EGGLESHAW