FC Isle of Man held to opening day draw by Chadderton

Ravens blow two-goal lead as spoils shared at The Bowl

FC Isle of Man blew a two-goal lead as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Chadderton in their opening match of the 2024/25 NWCFL Premier Division season this evening (27 July).

Ste Whitley's low curling strike and a close-range Charlie Higgins finish put the Manx side two-up in the first half.

Chadderton struck back on the stroke of half-time through Muis Bibire Bello's diving header from a Matthew Crothers cross.

In a scrappy second half, the visitors then levelled in the 82nd minute as Crothers converted from the penalty spot following a handball by FC Isle of Man's Alex Maitland.

Saturday evening's curtain raiser at The Bowl in Douglas pitted FC Isle of Man against a Chadderton side who'd only missed out on a promotion play-off spot last season on goal difference.

After a low-key opening few minutes, 'The Ravens' struck first as Chadderton half-cleared a corner to FC Isle of Man's Luke Murray cushioning a pass into Whitley who swept a low effort into Chadderton goalkeeper Bruno Da Silva's bottom left hand corner.

The visitors responded well after going behind and began to apply some pressure with Lewis-Simon Byrne forcing FC Isle of Man 'keeper Adam Killey into a point-blank save on the half-volley on 18 minutes.

Against the run of play the hosts then doubled their lead in the 32nd minute when a Kyle Watson strike from 20 yards after a short free-kick on the left was parried by Da Silva into Higgins who tapped home from a few yards out.

As half-time approached the visitors put a spanner in the works when in the first minute of first-half stoppage time a whipped Crothers cross from the left found Bibire Bello charging into the six-yard box before glancing a deft diving header past Killey to halve the deficit.

Into the second period and both sides struggled to find moments of significant quality in the final third - the first real standout chance being Byrne seeing a curling right-footed shot from the edge of the box on 63 minutes ripple the top of Killey's net.

With both sides craving one more big opportunity, the visitors were handed a huge chance with eight minutes of normal time left.

As FC Isle of Man failed to fully clear a Chadderton corner the ball bounced up onto the arm of Maitland with referee Thomas Fox instantly pointing to the spot.

Up stepped Crothers who - after providing the assist for the Chadderton's first - duly dispatched the resulting penalty to level the contest despite Killey guessing the correct way up to his left.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be against Irlam at the RG3 Digital Stadium on Tuesday, 30 July, kicking-off at 7.45pm.

Man of the Match: Kyle Watson (FC Isle of Man)