Douglas entered the Regional North West Two playoffs with a trip to second-placed Vale of Lune, where a win at Powder House Lane would take the Manx side through to a promotion play-off final against Sandbach or Widnes.
Douglas made one significant change to their starting XV with Harry Cartwright taking up an inside-centre berth, and his place in the second row was taken by the returning Craig McGee alongside Ethan Kermode.
There was also a welcome return for Owen Carvin in the front row, with Conor Garland on the bench joined by the returning Matty Wood.
Overly Eager Douglas
3rd, 9th and 15th minute penalties from Jamie Mayall gifted Vale of Lune a healthy 9-0 lead as an overly eager Douglas encroached offside. Defensively Douglas were holding strong and when they did get some go forward they were rewarded with a 22nd minute penalty of their own, kicked by Nathan Robson.
Then Vale opened the try scoring with a slightly fortuitous 24th minute play. Every pass which had gone to hand was well tended by a solid Douglas backline, but an errant pass from Vale went to ground which checked the defence.
Vale regathered and went through the gap for winger Dan Leighton to score. Douglas responded again through the boot of Robson just before the break for a tense 14-6 Vale lead at half time.
Three more Mayall penalties extended the lead out to 23-6, much to the frustration of head coach Phil Cringle. Changes were made and Percy Hampton came into the fray for McGee, Garland for Carvin, Wood coming into the backline for tackle machine Blake Everson as Cartwright moved back into the pack.
Vale nearly put the game to bed with a well-worked moved on the Douglas 22, but an alert Josh Duncan made a superb last ditch tackle on his own line.
Tactical Switch
With a quarter of the game to go, Douglas made a tactical switch to move Craig Martin in at scrum half, with Robson moving to the wing. Duncan and Wood in midfield provided some smooth interchanges and were using the boot less so than in the opening half.
Moments later Liam Kirkpatrick tapped a short-range penalty, and having been tackled just short was able to extend an arm out and dot the ball down for 23-11. Douglas now had a lifeline and Vale were under the cosh.
A deliberate Vale knock on received a yellow card, and Craig Martin was the catalyst for an increased tempo to Douglas’ play. Strong carries from Josh Campbell and John Dutnall cranked up the pressure, and Man of the Match Kirkpatrick went over for his second try of the game with five minutes remaining.
Robson converted to bring Douglas back within five points.
All the momentum was now with the Manx side, and Vale couldn’t get their hands on the ball to ease the pressure.
McGee on for Kermode, Kirkpatrick and Duncan probed, Garland and Dutnall thundered forward, and the home crowd began to sense the result could slip away as Douglas scrambled desperately to find a way through the Vale defence and the game winning score.
Simon Hoddinott and Cartwright made big carries, but ultimately the clock was against Douglas. Deep inside Vale territory, a last frantic attack ended with a turnover from which the hosts were relieved to kick the ball off for 23-18 at the final whistle.