FC Isle of Man hit Widnes Town for six

Ravens win big on Macron Cup return

An Adam Adebiyi hat-trick was among the standout displays as FC Isle of Man hammered Widnes Town 6-0 in the Macron Cup First Round at The Bowl this evening (26 September).

In the first half, Adebiyi netted twice before scoring his and 'The Ravens'' third inside the opening minute of the second period.

A Ste Whitley penalty put the Manx side four up before substitute, Charlie Higgins poked home from close range to make it five on 65 minutes.

FC Isle of Man Captain, Joe Quayle then scored from distance with 71 minutes played to complete the Islanders' joint-biggest victory of the season so far in all competitions.

Despite plying their trade a league below FC Isle of Man, it was Widnes Town who started the stronger of the two in tonight's meeting.

Connor Dixon forced FC Isle of Man goalkeeper, Tom Crosbie into a smart save down to his right in the first minute before Taylor Swift saw an effort also stopped by Crosbie from a tight angle with six minutes played.

Shortly after that, though, it was FC Isle of Man who snatched the lead on 13 minutes when James Lowther down the right picked out Adebiyi in the Widnes Town penalty area with a low cross, with Adebiyi then swivelling from around 12 yards out to fire home into the far corner.

As the hosts found their feet, they and Adebiyi struck again eight minutes later when the striker nodded home a pin-point cross from the left from debutant, Dylan Bullock after a slick corner routine.

Not content with their lead at the break, it took FC Isle of Man less than 60 seconds to add to their tally after the restart.

A ball over the Widnes Town defence wasn't dealt with, allowing Adebiyi to stride through one-on-one with Widnes Town's Hayden Davis before lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper and nodding into an empty net to complete his hat-trick.

With 51 minutes gone, Adebiyi was then indirectly involved in his side's fourth as he went down under a challenge inside the box from Widnes Town's Oliver Wright with the referee, Louis Colaco pointing to the spot.

Up stepped the experienced Whitley who, from 12 yards, sent Davis the wrong way and fired into the 'keeper's bottom right-hand corner to put the Manx side firmly in the driving seat.

At the other end, Widnes Town had their clearest chance of the second half on 57 minutes when a vicious Macauley Clifton free-kick from around 20 yards beat Crosbie but came crashing back off of the FC Isle of Man stopper's crossbar.

With just over an hour played, FC Isle of Man then made it five as Lowther found space on the right before drilling a low ball across the six-yard area which was spilled at the near post by Widnes Town's substitute goalkeeper, Conor Harte and into the feet of Higgins who duly tapped home from point-blank.

The scoring was then complete with 19 minutes of normal time remaining - Widnes Town the masters of their own downfall on this occasion as a wayward Tkai Myers-Jones pass out from the back fell to Quayle who - seeing Harte off his line - sent a looping effort on goal from around 35 yards with Harte getting two hands to it but being unable to stop it rolling past him and into the net for six.

The final whistle confirmed a triumphant return to the Macron Cup competition nearly four years to the day since their last appearance in the tournament.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be away against Litherland REMYCA in the NWCFL Premier Division on Saturday, 3 October, kicking-off at 3pm.

Man of the Match: Adam Adebiyi (FC Isle of Man)