Charnock Richard blitz past sorry Ravens

FC Isle of Man fall to another heavy home defeat

FC Isle of Man have endured another night to forget on home soil as they fell to a sobering 4-1 defeat to Charnock Richard in the NWCFL Premier Division this evening (5 April).

It took just eight minutes for Charnock Richard to lead through Louis Holt's smart finish before doubling their advantage through a towering Shay Stansfield header late in the first half.

Sean Doyle's deflected header gave the Manx side a lease of life three minutes into the second period.

However, all home hopes were quashed as Nathan Nickeas hit two goals in four minutes for Charnock Richard with just under twenty minutes remaining.

Still aiming to end a winless run of eight games, FC Isle of Man faced a visiting side on a run of three straight victories in all competitions.

A lively Charnock Richard start was rewarded with a goal as an inch-perfect Lewis Haydock pass found Holt who trapped expertly on the edge of the FC Isle of Man box before slotting a low effort into the bottom corner.

On 16 minutes Holt nearly had another only to see his powerful header from a cross out on the left rattle the FC Isle of Man crossbar.

With 'The Ravens' lacking an edge going forward, their opponents took the chance to double their advantage in the 39th minute.

A Charnock corner was initially cleared to the halfway line before Marcus Haydock floated a ball to the far left post with Stansfield rising above FC Isle of Man goalkeeper Adam Killey to nod into an empty net.

In desperate need of another gear after the restart, FC Isle of Man grabbed a lifeline three minutes into the second half.

A Jacob Crook cross from the left found Doyle from around ten yards whose resulting header took a slight deflection to send it past Charnock Richard goalkeeper Ryan Hamer and into the net.

As confidence grew for the hosts in levelling the contest, those hopes were shattered again in the 71st minute through Charnock Richard's top scorer Nickeas.

A well-weighted Fenton Davies ball over the FC Isle of Man defence found Nickeas one-on-one with Killey before executing a deft lob over the goalkeeper to net his side's third.

Not content with just one, Nickeas had another three minutes after - prodding home the rebound from a low Matthew Davies shot from around 15 yards out which had initially been stopped by Killey.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be at home against Litherland REMYCA on Saturday, 12 April, kicking-off at 6pm.

Man of the Match: Nathan Nickeas (Charnock Richard)