Ramsey Regain Shimmin Wilson Shield

Ramsey regained the Shimmin Wilson Manx Shield with a 12-6 win over Southern Nomads in a tight game at Glencrutchery Road, with the winning score coming from skipper Darren Ideson late in the second half. Nomads will be disappointed with the result after they dominated the opening half but failed to take their scoring chances.

Nomads very nearly took an early lead when centre Martin Thompson intercepted a pass on halfway in just the second minute. He ran out of gas during the run in and was felled by Ramsey flanker Bruce Ashton, agonisingly close to the line. Nomads did however have the better of the opening exchanges. The score remained locked at nil nil though and it wasn't until the sixteenth minute that the deadlock was broken by Peter Richards, who slotted over a penalty after Ramsey hands were caught interfering in a ruck.

Ramsey were held back by some solid defending and they rarely ventured into the Nomads half. Their first excursion wasn't until the twenty third minute, but it was profitable. Scrum half Sean Wylie chipped ahead to pin Nomads back and from the ensuing drive, the Ramsey forwards rolled across the line with hooker Gareth Hinge on hand to touch down and give his side a 5-3 advantage.

As half time approached, Nomads squeezed ahead. Martin Thompson broke the Ramsey defensive line and as the ball was recycled the scrambling defence was caught offside to leave Peter Richards with another straightforward kick at goal leave Nomads with a 6-5 lead at the break.

Rupert Leaton missed a penalty for Ramsey early in the second half, but apart from that, there were few scoring chances for either side. Ramsey dominated play however in much the same fashion as Nomads did in the first period. Rupert Leaton organised his backs well from stand off and whenever danger threatened he was on hand to boom out another clearance kick. His angled kicks in open play kept Nomads contained in their left hand corner and forced them to attack from deep within their own territory.

With ten minutes to go, it seemed as if Nomads may just hang on to their slender advantage. A Ramsey attack had fizzled out and Nomads had the put in to a scrum on their own 22, to clear their lines. The ball had other ideas though and shot out of the back of the scrum. First to react was Ramsey flanker Chris Kneale. He pounced on the loose ball and fed it left to Gareth Hoosen-Owen. The big Ramsey wing drew two tacklers before offloading to Darren Ideson who romped home in the corner. Leaton added the conversion to make it 12-6.

As the game ebbed to its close, the outstanding Bruce Ashton got his marching orders from referee Joe Phelan, for his part in a scuffle with opposite number Neal Kelly, but it was too late in the day to have any effect on the outcome.

Jubilant Ramsey Captain Darren Ideson praised his team's commitment after receiving the Shield from MRFU representative Ken Diack. In particular he paid tribute to his young players, Bruce Ashton, Peter Verrall and Sean Wylie who had performed so well in their first final. Man of the match for me though was Ramsey stand off Rupert Leaton, who did what was needed, when it was needed.