Clinical Colne sting wasteful Ravens

Ravens record fourth straight loss heading into Christmas

FC Isle of Man were left to rue crucial opportunities as they suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of in-form Colne in the NWCFL Premier Division this evening (22 December).

Colne's William Hasler-Cregg's calm close-range strike gave the visitors the lead on 23 minutes in a tightly-contested first half which saw FC Isle of Man striker, Sean Doyle hit the crossbar.

As the Manx side pushed in the second half for an equaliser, a slick counter-attack saw Colne grab their second in the 54th minute thanks to Lucas Weaver's cool one-on-one finish.

The latest setback for FC Isle of Man is their fourth straight loss at home, with the Ravens unable to find the net at all in three of those.

In their final contest before Christmas, FC Isle of Man were hoping to end their recent frustrating home form against a Colne side hoping to keep up a recent purple patch in league form.

Both sides set an exciting tempo in the early stages but that was broken up 17 minutes in as there was a five-minute stoppage to play due to some pitch maintenance required in one of the penalty areas.

Colne were brighter after the short pause and they punished the Island side on 23 minutes as Jamie Edwards squared a low ball from the right to captain, Owen Watkinson, who in turn calmly passed left to an unmarked Hasler-Cregg at the far post to tap home from close range.

FC Isle of Man then came close to hitting back just five minutes later as Doyle met a whipped cross from Jacob Crook on the left with Doyle's effort looping towards goal before bouncing back off the crossbar.

Doyle was then involved in another big chance in the 32nd minute as Dean Pinnington broke free on the left before a low curling cross found Doyle in space around ten yards out, but he could only divert his low effort agonisingly wide of Colne goalkeeper, Charlie Monks' right post.

Still trailing at the break, FC Isle of Man started brightly early in the second half but as they gained momentum, they were punished on the break with 54 minutes gone.

A rapid Colne counter-attack from an FC Isle of Man corner saw Watkinson release Weaver free down the left flank and he sprinted in one-on-one with Ravens stopper, Harry Callin before tucking away a composed finish into Callin's bottom left corner to double the visitors' advantage.

Monks was on hand four minutes after that to deny the Island hosts a lifeline at the other end as he produced a smart save to his left from a well-hit Pinnington free-kick from 25 yards.

In the 65th minute, FC Isle of Man nearly found joy through an unlikely source as a loose ball from a poor Colne clearance rebounded to defender Alex Maitland whose low effort from the edge of the box was again blocked well by the feet of Monks.

Despite a raft of changes to maintain the pace for the remainder of the clash, the Manx outfit failed from then on to muster many meaningful openings as the travelling Colne squad held firm to see things out for the three points and a clean sheet.

FC Isle of Man's next match is scheduled to take place away at Chadderton on Wednesday, 27 December, kicking-off at 7.45pm.