FC Isle of Man beat Longridge Town to secure league survival

Ravens produce comeback win to maintain NWCFL Premier Division status

FC Isle of Man have secured their survival in the NWCFL Premier Division after a 3-1 victory away against in-form Longridge Town this afternoon (2 April).

The Lancashire hosts led after 19 minutes through a Dean Ing header before Lewis Roberts’ well-taken effort levelled the tie for the Ravens with Michael Williams then giving the Manx side a 2-1 lead on the stroke of half-time.

Despite a Longridge Town onslaught in the second-half, Sean Doyle netted a third for the Island outfit with seven minutes to go to secure three crucial points.

The results means FC Isle of Man are now mathematically safe from relegation with three games of their season to spare.

After a hard-fought win at Lower Breck less than 24 hours previously, a much-changed FC Isle of Man side took to the field at The Recycling Lives Ground knowing another three points would confirm their safety in this league for another season.

However, they would face-off against a buoyant Longridge Town who were on an impressive run of four wins in their last five outings.

Straight from the start, Longridge Town began on the front foot, forcing an early double-save from FC Isle of Man goalkeeper, Matthew Quirk, just seven minutes in as they applied some early pressure.

The hosts then took a deserved lead on 19 minutes when their top-scorer, Dean Ing, rose highest from a Scott Harries cross to direct a header home for the opener and his 21st goal of the season.

This sparked the Manx side into a little more life going forward and they were on level terms 16 minutes later.

Substitute Michael Williams brought the ball under control before squaring a pass for Lewis Roberts in the Longridge Town penalty area, with Roberts managing to turn before firing a pin-point strike into the bottom corner for 1-1.

This seemed to be the catalyst for FC Isle of Man to start taking some more authority and they then took the lead for the first time in the game on the stroke of half-time.

After being provider of the Ravens’ first, Williams then became the finisher as he slammed home from a Tom Creer cross from the left in the third minute of first-half stoppage time.

With a narrow advantage, FC Isle of Man then had to strap themselves in for an onslaught of attacks from Longridge Town in the second period as the Lancashire club pushed relentlessly for an equaliser.

Jack Anderton had the ball in the back of the FC Isle of Man net with 52 minutes gone which was ruled out for a handball in the build-up.

Anderton was then denied again 12 minutes later by an important save from Quirk - with 11 minutes to go Longridge Town came close once more as a goalmouth scramble six yards out from a free-kick was somehow snuffed out by the Ravens defence.

As time ebbed away, the Island outfit then struck the killer blow with seven minutes of normal time left.

Charlie Higgins won play back from a sliding challenge before he fed a square pass for striker, Sean Doyle, who, from close range, slotted into the net for 3-1 to send all the points back to Manx shores.

The victory means FC Isle of Man go 13 points clear of Burscough in the final relegation spot, who now only have a maximum of 12 points to play for in their last four matches - meaning the Ravens mathematically now cannot drop below 20th position out of the 22 teams in the league.

FC Isle of Man’s next match will be against Avro at The Bowl on Saturday, 8 April, kicking-off at 6.30pm.