Isle of Man 3

Blackburn 7

BLACKBURN survived Storm Brian to claim another precious victory after a hair-raising trip to the Isle of Man.

And the fixture, due to be staged at Douglas rugby club on the island, was switched to a nearby amateur ground, a mile away, with the Port-a-Chee pitch in the island’s capital waterlogged.

“The surface, in my opinion, was unplayable, and although there was no way the game could have gone ahead on that, they wanted to play,” said Blackburn’s Head coach Dino Radice.

“They did everything in their power to make it hard for us, but when the referee arrived he said it wasn’t safe for the players.

“So, instead, we were ferried in a convoy of fans and sponsors vehicles to another club, Vagabonds, who play on top of a hill.

“When we arrived they were at home though, so the officials had to kick them off.

“The conditions were horrendous, the worst I’ve seen, with a howling gale and driving rain.

“They had a lad up front who looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger, a six feet seven giant, and he was battering into us throughout the second half.

“It was a fierce battle, but through our graft and determination we got over the line with a fantastic performance.

“I believe we were only the second team to beat them in the Isle of Man for two and a half years and that’s a superb effort.”

Burn’s man of the match Corey Evans scored the all-important try with Leon Fifield converting.

But the Blackburn squad had endured a bumpy ride on the short hop across the Irish Sea from Liverpool to Douglas before they could touch down on terra firma on the Isle of Man.

“The pilot of the plane said he had enough fuel to try and make three landing attempts, but put us down on the first approach and we were all very relieved,” said Radice.

“It was a long day because we left Ramsgreave Drive at 6am for the airport and we got back at 10pm.

“Also it was a costly trip, but in terms of camaraderie and spirit it was a priceless one because we won and recorded our first back to back wins of the season.”

Blackburn are on the road again on Saturday, albeit a bit closer to home, when they make the trip to Manchester who are just one point above ‘Burn in the table.

“We’ve really started to build up some momentum now, and we’ve begun to gel as a team.

“If we can get something at Manchester then that would really give us an extra impetus going into our next home game against Carlisle.”