Holden to take charge of first FC Isle of Man game

It'll be first Ravens test following departure of Paul Jones

FC Isle of Man caretaker manager, Rick Holden is due to take charge of his first game at the club this weekend.

Two weeks on from their last fixture, 'The Ravens' are scheduled to host Barnoldswick Town in the NWCFL Premier Division tomorrow evening (4 October).

It'll be the first competitive action the Manx side has faced since Holden took over on an interim basis from previous boss Paul Jones who stepped down from the post last week.

After a challenging season so far, FC Isle of Man head into the weekend just one point above the relegation zone after picking up eight points from their first 13 games.

Saturday's clash will see a meeting of the two leakiest defensive records in the league so far.

Whilst FC Isle of Man hold the unwanted record of having conceded the most goals so far - 36 in total - Barnoldswick Town haven't fared much better having let in 32.

For both sides, the added incentive could be that a win for either could take one of them up several places in the NWCFL Premier Division, depending on results elsewhere.

Should the Manx hosts take three points they could realistically move up as many as two places whilst their visitors have the chance to realistically rise a maximum of three should they claim victory.

Head-to-head records between the teams are very closely matched with both sides managing two wins over the other along with two draws between them in their six meetings to date.

Barnoldswick Town are unbeaten on their three journeys to The Bowl so far with a win and two draws.

FC Isle of Man vs Barnoldswick Town takes place at The Bowl in Douglas this Saturday (4 October), kicking-off at 6pm.

Manx Radio will be providing full live match commentary on our DAB and AM1368 channels.