FC Isle of Man outclass promotion hopefuls Chadderton

Ravens hold on to win fiery encounter at The Bowl

A dazzling second-half performance saw FC Isle of Man earn a 3-2 win over NWCFL Premier Division promotion hopefuls Chadderton at The Bowl this evening (1 April).

Adam Dale's deft header put the visitors in front on nine minutes before a Dan Hattersley penalty levelled the clash in the 37th minute.

Goals from Ste Whitley (49) and Charlie Higgins (59) then put FC Isle of Man in control before Llyton Chapman grabbed a late consolation for Chadderton in the 95th minute.

A red card for Chadderton's Ethan Sutcliffe and sin bin for Dale in second-half stoppage time saw the travelling outfit finish the contest with nine men.

247 days into the season, Monday evening marked the first meeting of the two sides this campaign with FC Isle of Man hoping to build on victory the previous weekend whilst Chadderton were hoping to maintain their control in the hunt for promotion play-off places.

The visitors started the brighter and were rewarded after nine minutes after a whipped cross from Chapman on the right found Dale who arrowed a header across goal past rooted FC Isle of Man goalkeeper, Adam Killey into the far corner.

Two minutes later, Higgins nearly hit straight back for the Ravens, however his rasping hit from the right edge of the box was expertly stopped by Chadderton 'keeper, Morgan Bacon.

The hosts grew in confidence as the first half wore on and were awarded a penalty on 37 minutes when Hattersley was dragged to the ground in the Chadderton box.

The striker got back up to take the resulting spot kick, sending Bacon the wrong way and nestling his effort from 12 yards into the keeper's bottom left corner.

Level at the break and FC Isle of Man flew out of the traps at the start of the second period to take the lead four minutes after the restart.

Some smart footwork from Higgins on the right saw him skip past three Chadderton defenders before squaring to Whitley on the edge of the penalty area whose first-time hit deflected under Bacon into the bottom right corner.

Having played a key role in the Ravens' second goal, Higgins then dispatched his side's third on 59 minutes.

Chadderton failed to fully clear their lines from a corner before Higgins smashed a loose ball into the back of the net from six yards to put the home side in control.

Having struggled in the second half to create many clear-cut chances, Chadderton then set up a nervy finish for the Manx side in the 95th minute.

A quick counter-attack saw a ball from the right squared to Dale from 12 yards whose shot on goal was blocked and deflected into the path of Chapman from point-blank range who slammed past Killey to give the away side some late hope.

Moments later as Chadderton looked to get the game restarted, a clash between Chadderton substitute Sutcliffe and Killey saw referee James Milburn produce a straight red card for Sutcliffe.

With seconds remaining, the visitors were calling for a penalty of their own after Kain Dean went down in the FC Isle of man box under a challenge from Whitley.

Milburn waved away the protests before then sending Dale to the sin bin for his protests to see Chadderton end the game empty-handed and with only nine players on the pitch.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be away against Irlam on Wednesday, 3 April, kicking-off at 7.45pm.

Man of the Match: Charlie Higgins (FC Isle of Man)