FC Isle of Man fight back to beat Glossop North End

Spirited second-half display sees Ravens take three points

A second half comeback from FC Isle of Man saw them earn a hard-fought 3-2 win at Glossop North End in the NWCFL Premier Division this afternoon (20 December).

Glossop led on the stroke of half-time through a Jordan Schofield penalty before Luke Booth slotted home to equalise for the Manx side 20 minutes into the second period.

'The Ravens' then led for the first time in the 80th minute when Alex Maitland poked home from a corner before Charlie Higgins netted number three for FC Isle of Man five minutes after.

The Island visitors then managed to hold out for victory late on despite a late consolation from Harry Barber-Olufowobi for Glossop North End in second-half added time.

The first big opening fell the way of the hosts in the 21st minute when Joel Igwenwanne worked some space from distance before crashing an effort towards goal and off the post.

In the closing stages of a relatively uneventful first period, Glossop North End were then awarded a penalty in first-half stoppage time following a foul by FC Isle of Man's Alex Maitland.

Schofield took responsibilities from the spot for Glossop North End and duly dispatched, rifling an effort down the centre to open the scoring.

Following the restart, the game opened up slightly with the first 15 minutes seeing both sides looking to offer some attacking threat going forward without creating much in the way of clear-cut opportunities.

FC Isle of Man's Adam Killey was forced into helping deal with a goalmouth scramble from a Glossop corner before moments later at the other end, Charlie Higgins fired over from an FC Isle of Man corner.

With 25 minutes to go, the Manx side found a leveller when a long ball over the top of the Glossop defence found the feet of Booth who strode through on goal before lobbing GNE stopper, Joseph Oldham and finding the net.

Moments after, the home side were nearly back in front when some good work down the flank resulted in a deflected cross finding Conal Gallagher whose effort on goal was denied by a vital block from FC Isle of Man's Callum Sherry.

With ten minutes of normal time left, 'The Ravens' snatched the lead for the first time - Maitland, who'd given away the penalty in the first half to hand Glossop the lead - was quickest to react at the back post from a corner to tap home.

Not content with simply being in front, FC Isle of Man added further security with 85 minutes on the clock when Dean Pinnington played through Higgins who slotted home for a third.

Whilst in second-half stoppage time, Glossop set up a tense finish when Barber-Olufowobi found the target, it wasn't enough to stop FC Isle of Man heading home with all three points from their final away match of the calendar year.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be at home against Stockport Town on Saturday, 27 December at The Bowl in Douglas, with kick-off scheduled for 6pm.

Manx Radio will be providing full live match commentary on our DAB and AM1368 channels.