Douglas Rugby Club beat promotion hopefuls Firwood Waterloo 30-24 in a thrilling finale to their Regional Two North West season on Saturday to confirm a sixth-place finish, their highest at this level.

A sun-kissed Port-e-Chee burst into life in the very first minute of the match. Liam Kirkpatrick fielded kick-off and found Jonty Cope on the charge just inside his own half.

Cope plotted a perfect path through the defence for a well-taken solo try well before anyone else had broken a sweat.

Twelve minutes in, Douglas doubled their lead. Harry Hewson made the line break and his charge was halted just shy of the five-metre line. Mark Oldfield and Blake Snell both tried the pick-and-go before wing Craig Martin joined the fray and squeezed his way over the line for a 10-0 lead.

Just after the 20-minute mark, Waterloo came to the party. James Ratcliffe kicked his side into the Douglas 22 and they earned a five-metre scrum.

From this they moved the ball quickly to the right where full-back Alex Topping joined the backline and was able to dive into the corner and score. Ratcliffe converted and Waterloo were within three points at 10-7.

On the half-hour Ratcliffe’s boot became the provider again when he boomed a huge clearance downfield. After some off the ball jiggery pokery, what should have been a Douglas lineout turned into a Waterloo penalty.

Ratcliffe sent it onto the corner for a five-metre lineout. Sam Wicks secured the catch and delivered ball off the top. This was shipped quickly to the left where wing Harvey Baker galloped in to score and give his side a 12-10 lead.

On the cusp of half-time Nathan Robson fired over a penalty for the hosts and the teams reached the break, Douglas narrowly leading 13-12.

Two minutes into the second half, Waterloo struck again. Another close-in lineout was the trigger. Waterloo took clean ball and this was quickly zipped wide. Topping once more hit the line at pace and he found a gap in the defence for his second of the day and a 17-13 lead.

Douglas then hit a 10-minute purple patch. Robson set it off with his second penalty of the game from 45 metres out.

Shortly afterwards, Douglas secured lineout ball inside their own half. Oldfield and Liam Kirkpatrick crashed it up the tight channels before Douglas released the backs.

Kyle Martin joined the line and he made the decisive break before offloading to twin brother Craig and he cantered in for his second of the day. Robson converted for a 23-17 lead.

The Douglas onslaught continued just before the hour. Forward running brought them close to the line and Oldfield crashed in to score. Robson added another conversion for a 30-17 lead and a precious try bonus point to boot.

Waterloo upped the pace and were probably chasing the game too hard. Kickable penalties were declined on more than one occasion and, even when Douglas lost Blake Everson to the sin bin, they were unable to improve their lot.

Into the final five minutes the pressure finally took its toll and James Ratcliffe weaved through some tired defenders to score under the posts. He converted his own try but it was little more than a consolation as they were beaten by the clock.

DAVE CHRISTIAN