Pinnington rescues Ravens against Longridge Town

FC Isle of Man score late equaliser to maintain unbeaten run

A stunning late Dean Pinnington free-kick saw FC Isle of Man extend their recent unbeaten run in a 2-2 draw with Longridge Town in the NWCFL Premier Division this evening (1 November).

The Manx side opened the scoring through Charlie Higgins' close-range finish on 26 minutes before a sublime Jack Anderton free-kick got Longridge Town level three minutes later.

The superb goals kept coming as Connor High's stupendous long-range hit put Longridge in front in the 48th minute before Pinnington netted from a dead ball in the last minute of normal time to equalise.

The result also means both sides stretch their respective undefeated streaks to four matches.

Less than 30 seconds into tonight's encounter at The Bowl, FC Isle of Man came close to taking the lead when Adam Adebiyi saw a half-volley from the edge of the box whistle just wide of the post.

After a cagey opening 20 minutes or so, the deadlock was broken when FC Isle of Man counter-attacked from a Longridge Town corner which culminated in Pinnington squaring a pass from the right edge of the box for Higgins who slide in from a few yards out to tap home.

But the hosts' lead was short-lived - Longridge Town won themselves a free-kick around 25 yards out and up stepped Anderton who bent a pin-point effort over the wall and into FC Isle of Man goalkeeper, Mark Blair's top left-hand corner.

Level at the break, Longridge Town took the lead less than three minutes into the second half in style.

A free-kick on the right was taken quickly and fed into the path of High who - from a full 35 to 40 yards - arrowed a blistering strike into Blair's top-left hand corner to give the visitors the lead for the first time.

In what remained of a scrappy second-half with multiple stoppages, FC Isle of Man struggled for inspiration in front of goal right until the final seconds of normal time.

From around 25 yards, Pinnington took control of a free-kick in the dying moments which he whipped around the wall to sail past Longridge Town stopper, Kai Crowe to rescue a point for the Island side.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be away against Euxton Villa on Tuesday, 4 November, kicking-off at 8pm.