AFTER an early arrival to the Isle of Man, there was only one thing on everyone’s mind, Breakfast!

Fully replenished, LSH’s Finest then made their way to the Port-e-Chee home ground of Douglas RUFC to address the real business of the day. And as it turned out – they did so in great style winning 21-17.

Leaving the previous two week’s outings miles behind, this was a much improved performance, well deserving of the win.

All 18 players stood up to be counted, although in a sign that there is still a lot of work to be done, there were far too many errors , knock-ons, turnovers, at the line out and yes, dropping the ball when going over the line!

Douglas made the early running but went behind in the tenth minute when full back Jack Kennedy pounced on a loose ball on the half way line and won the race to touch down under the posts.

Matty Wood converted. 0-7 The home side levelled soon after with a converted try down the left.

ust before the half hour mark a Douglas penalty 10-7 was followed by a try from close range from Dan Webster after persistent LSH pressure, converted.

In an even and highly entertaining first half, the home side edged themselves ahead just before the break with another converted try.

 And then there was the second half in which it is no exaggeration to say that LSH had so much possession and territory that when the score remained unchanged as the game went into the last five minutes, apprehension had turned to a mixture of disbelief and despair.

In fairness the Douglas defence was strong and effective but with just three minutes left, after huge pressure, the ball found Jake Dickinson on the twenty metre line.

Eschewing the touchline, the powerful left winger took the most hazardous route available and blitzed his way through four defenders to score. Matty Wood converted to make it 17-21.

Even then the game wasn’t over as nerves were shredded even more when the referee played nine minutes additional time.

However Paddy Royle’s men had not got out of their beds at 4am for nothing and LSH are off and running in Regional 2 North West.

Next Week LSH are at home to Firwood Waterloo, 3pm.

LSH 2ND XV 92 Sedgley Park 3RD XV 5