FC Isle of Man outclassed by clinical West Didsbury & Chorlton

Ravens defeated by title chasers at The Bowl

A clinical display from title-chasing West Didsbury & Chorlton saw them cruise to a 3-1 win over FC Isle of Man in the NWCFL Premier Division this evening (15 November).

Two quick-fire goals in just over five minutes in the first period from Jack Banister put the visitors in control at the break.

An 86th minute strike from substitute, Luke Booth handed FC Isle of Man a small lifeline heading into second-half stoppage time.

However, West Didsbury & Chorlton extinguished all hope of a Ravens comeback when Jordan Lazenbury slotted home from close range in the 90th minute to seal the three points for the visitors.

Tonight's meeting saw a meeting of two familiar foes with contrasting fortunes this season with FC Isle of Man hovering five points above the relegation zone and West Didsbury & Chorlton starting the weekend just two points off the top of the table.

However, it was the Manx side that started the brighter with Ste Whitley cutting in from the right and striking to force a save from West Didsbury & Chorlton's Oliver Martin inside three minutes.

FC Isle of Man came close again in the seventh minute when their opponents failed to fully clear a corner with Whitley connecting with a volley from the edge of the box which deflected to Joe Middleton whose improvised touch towards goal saw the ball clip Martin's left-hand post.

As the half wore on though, the visitors found their rhythm and broke the deadlock on 16 minutes.

A sweeping team move from left to right culminated in Lewis Billingsley squaring to Banister on the edge of the box who, first-time, swept a low effort into the near bottom corner.

Just over five minutes later the away side struck again when a long ball from Adam Jones over the FC Isle of Man defence found Banister who spotted FC Isle of Man goalkeeper, Mark Blair off his line and calmly lobbed the ball up, over and into the net.

West Didsbury & Chorlton nearly had a third in the first period when Billingsley's vicious hit inside the box was parried by Blair into the path of Paul Riley whose header on goal was blocked on the line by Ravens defender, Karl Clark.

A lively first half was followed by a different approach in the second with the visitors looking comfortable and content with their lead up against an FC Isle of Man side struggling for inspiration in front of goal.

Despite a lack of clear-cut chances either way for much of the second half, FC Isle of Man got themselves a lifeline with four minutes of normal time remaining.

A cross from the left was chested down by Michael Williams in the West Didsbury & Chorlton penalty area into the path of Booth who arrowed a crisp half-volley across Martin and into the far corner to halve the deficit.

But any hopes of a late FC Isle of Man revival were dashed just four minutes after that.

A Harvey Roberts ball down the right and over the FC Isle of Man defence found Kaleb Parkinson who beat the offside trap and squared to an unmarked Lazenbury around 12 yards out who slotted past Blair to send West Didsbury & Chorlton at least temporarily top of the table and hand FC Isle of Man their second straight defeat in the process.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be away against Longridge Town on Saturday, 22 November, kicking-off at 1.30pm.

Man of the Match: Jack Banister (West Didsbury & Chorlton)