FC Isle of Man swept aside at Padiham

Corlett sees red during tough day in Lancashire

FC Isle of Man's first outing on the road since early November proved one to forget as they laboured to a 3-1 defeat at Padiham in the NWCFL Premier Division this afternoon (13 January).

Joel Brownhill's close range strike had Padiham ahead after four minutes before he was on hand 15 minutes after to double their advantage with a tap-in after Tyler James' shot was parried by FC Isle of Man's Ben Wilkinson.

In a more evenly-contested second period, the Ravens struggled again to create many meaningful openings and were punished with 12 minutes left as James grabbed Padiham's third with a diving header.

FC Isle of Man would get a consolation for their efforts in the 86th minute with Jack McVey converting from the penalty spot after a foul on Doyle before Ravens' man Jamie Corlett saw red in the final seconds of the game.

A strong start for the hosts reaped rewards just four minutes in when FC Isle of Man failed to fully clear a Padiham corner with James taking control before squaring to Brownhill from close range to slot home.

Just before the 20-minute mark, Padiham struck again as the same combination punished the FC Isle of Man defence when James' strike was well parried by Ravens' 'keeper, Ben Wilkinson with the rebound falling into the path of Brownhill to tap home.

'The Storks' worked more first-half opportunities from then on but were unable to extend their advantage ahead of half time as the likes of Brownhill and Jack Price both spurned clear-cut chances to increase the gap between the sides.

With a lot of work to do after the half-time break, the Manx side came close to making a strong start on 48 minutes when Dan Simpson - after beating three defenders - found Sean Doyle whose resulting effort just cleared the Padiham crossbar.

A switch in approach with just over 60 minutes played saw FC Isle of Man adopt a more direct approach as the Padiham defence held firm.

Following a series of stoppages heading towards the last ten minutes, Padiham made sure of the three points in the 78th minute as Tyler James - provider for the home side's opener - turned finisher, netting a diving header after being teed up by Brownhill.

The Manx side would have a say in front of goal, however, with five minutes of normal time left as Sean Doyle was fouled in the Padiham penalty area - from the resulting penalty, up stepped Jack McVey to convert and put the visitors on the scoresheet.

Despite gaining a slim lifeline heading into six minutes of additional time at the end of the game, the contest was to end on a poor note for FC Isle of Man as, along with a resulting defeat, Corlett was shown a straight red card with almost the last kick of the game after fouling his Padiham opponent who was through on goal.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be at home against Kendal Town next Saturday (20 January), kicking-off at 6pm.