Prestwich Heys pick apart FC Isle of Man

Ravens fall to joint-heaviest defeat of season so far

FC Isle of Man suffered their joint-heaviest loss of the season this afternoon (29 November) as they suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat at the hands of ten-man Prestwich Heys in the NWCFL Premier Division.

The hosts struck two in the first half through Alfie Belcher and Bryson Appleton before James Badrock's header got them a third 12 minutes into the second period.

Despite seeing substitute Luke Mann sent off with 25 minutes to go, Appleton added another before another substitute in Luke Byron also got on the scoresheet to complete a day to forget for 'The Ravens.'

It took less than ten minutes for the hosts to take the lead after a fast-paced start to the game when Belcher collected a cross before working some space and finding the net with seven minutes on the clock.

With both sides looking a threat going forward for much of the remainder of the first period, Prestwich Heys doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time.

A counter-attack from an FC Isle of Man advance saw some good linkup play between Appleton and Nicholas Dre Taylor resulted in Appleton striking for goal and seeing his effort take a big deflection to take it past FC Isle of Man goalkeeper, Adam Killey.

'Heys' could have had a third in the second minute of first-half stoppage time had it not been for Killey being on hand to make a big save from a Robert Worrall effort.

Despite a spirited start to the second period, 'The Ravens' then fell even further behind as James Badrock - after a scramble in the FC Isle of Man penalty area - sent a looping header beyond Killey to grab a third for the hosts.

A twist then came in the 65th minute as Prestwich Heys were reduced to ten men when substitute, Luke Mann - only on the field for around three minutes - was given his marching orders for what was deemed to have been a dangerous tackles.

However, instead of aiding FC Isle of Man's effort, the ten-man hosts struck again and grabbed a fourth with just over ten minutes left when Appleton seized on a poor backpass to round Killey and slot home for his second of the contest.

The Manx side's disappointing day was then rounded out with seven minutes of normal time remaining as susbtitute, Luke Byron found the net.

As a result, the result and final whistle marked FC Isle of Man's joint-heaviest defeat of the campaign so far.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be at home against Irlam on Saturday, 6 December, kicking-off at 6pm.