FC Isle of Man crushed by late goal at Prestwich Heys

Ravens narrowly beaten in tight contest at Adie Moran Park

A crushing late goal saw FC Isle of Man's recent good run come to an end as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Prestwich Heys in the NWCFL Premier Division today (25 February).

The Ravens controlled much of the first period but Alex Maitland's header from a free-kick the closest they came to an opening in a goalless first-half.

FC Isle of Man withstood prolonged pressure in the second period before a Matthew Davies header from a corner in the 87th minute saw the Manx side trail late on.

Despite a late push for an equaliser, the solitary strike for the home side ultimately meant the Island outfit leaves Adie Moran Park empty-handed.

FC Isle of Man interim manager, Paul Jones, says he and his players are disappointed at the late defeat, but he believes his side were 'excellent' for large parts of the contest:

It was a slow start to proceedings at Adie Moran Park with both sides content to move the ball and wait for openings in an uneventful opening 25 minutes or so.

The Manx side began to up the pressure and their first significant opening came on the half-hour mark as a Ste Whitley free-kick was met by Alex Maitland, but his header ended up flying just wide of the Prestwich Heys goalmouth.

Despite controlling the majority of the first period, the Ravens had to settle for a goalless scoreline come the break, but with ambitions to continue their hard work once the second half got underway.

Hosts, Prestwich Heys, started the brighter of the two sides as the game resumed with FC Isle of Man holding firm and keeping the Heys pressure away from Ben Wilkinson in the Ravens' net.

As time wore on into the final twenty minutes, still with chances at a premium for both sides, Prestwich Heys continue to pile the pressure onto a resilient FC Isle of Man in search of a crucial opener.

However, as the final ten minutes loomed, the Island side began to edge play further forward as Paul Jones began to shuffle the pack with a raft of substitutions.

However, the Island side were dealt a crushing and decisive blow at the other end with just three minutes remaining when a Prestwich Heys corner was met by the head of Matthew Davies who powered his effort into the FC Isle of Man net.

The few remaining minutes saw FC Isle of Man frantically push for a late comeback but ultimately to no avail as Prestwich Heys remained resolute to hold out for the three points.