Southern Nomads came out 52-15 winners in their Manx Shield clash with Western Vikings at QEII High School on Saturday.

While the final score suggests a convincing win, the opening 20 minutes were nip and tuck with the half-time lead only 26-10.

Western Vikings created the early chances and Sam Tarpey was almost in when they engineered an overlap on the left and he was bundled into touch by a try-saving tackle from ex-Viking Brian Skillicorn.

In the 11th minute they did break the deadlock. Harry Goodwin tapped a quick penalty and crashed into the defence. Craig Martin picked from the base of the ruck and swerved through the wall of green shirts to score.

Four minutes later it was all square. Vikings attempted a clearance from inside their own 22, but there was a man in front of the kicker who didn’t retreat. The resulting penalty was tapped and Nomads’ fullback Will Taisia punched through the Vikings’ line to score.

Just before the 20-minute mark Nomads took the lead. A flowing back move saw Si Chadwick dotting down and, when Mark Young converted, they were 12-5 ahead.

Three minutes later though, Vikings were back in it. Conal McCartney linked up with Morgan Armstrong-Paton on the right wing and the latter galloped over in the corner to make it 12-10.

A yellow card for Harry Brereton slowed Nomads down until just before half-time when they struck with two quick tries. The first was an 85-metre sprint from paceman Tony Quinn after a Viking attack faltered and Dick Seed recovered the ball and found Quinn with enough space to stretch his legs.

The second saw Seed and Taisia carve open the Vikings defence, with back rower Max Elwig finishing off. Both were converted by Mark Young and Nomads led 26-10 at the break.

Four tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half determined then result. Seed picked a neat line through the Viking defence for the first after eight minutes.

Vikings counter-attacked from the restart but a fumbled ball was recovered by Elwig on halfway and he ran it back for his second of the game.

From that restart, Nomads quickly secured possession and sent it wide to Quinn who had more than enough room to outpace the defence.

The final Nomad score came midway through the half. Mark Young quickly tapped a penalty and Ste McHugh crashed it over the line. Young was bust with the boot too and converted all four tries.

While the result was beyond Vikings, there was still the lure of a four-try bonus point and they kept working. A midfield penalty was boomed into the corner with four to play. The lineout was secured but Nomads were able to stop the drive.

But they did leave a gap at the front and Craig Martin wriggled through for his second of the afternoon to bring proceedings to a close. Sadly for Vikings, the clock beat them to their fourth try.

Ramsey beat Douglas Casuals in friendly

A strong-looking Douglas Casuals side were beaten 19-5 at Port-e-Chee by Ramsey who avenged an earlier defeat at Mooragh Park.

Brandon Atchison went in twice for Ramsey with youngster Ffinlo Corkill also scoring his first senior try in just his third game. Tom Moffatt converted two out of three.

DAVE CHRISTIAN