Luke Murray scores screamer in very strong Ravens display
Another late goal saw FC Isle of Man denied a point last night (11 October) as they went down 2-1 away against West Didsbury & Chorlton despite a strong performance.
A 44th minute strike from 'West' forward Rhain Davis opened the scoring in a very tightly-contested game.
However, that was cancelled out by an astonishing overhead kick from FC IoM's Luke Murray early in the second-half.
In a contest seemingly headed for a draw, a superb individual goal from WDC's Dontai Gabidon then snatched all three points for the home side with six minutes to go.
Speaking to FC IoM's official website at full-time, the club's Assistant Manager, Lee Dixon, says losing late on again was tough, but was full of praise for his side's performance overall:
Hosts West Didsbury & Chorlton boasted a run of five wins in their previous six with the Ravens looking to bounce back from a last-gasp defeat at the weekend.
The first half was a competitive yet, at times, scrappy affair with neither side able to create too many obvious opportunities in the opening stages.
It took until the just before the end of the first period for the hosts to make a breakthrough when a 'West' free-kick was well saved by FC IoM stopper, James Rice, but the Ravens failed to clear their lines.
A through ball found the feet of Rhain Davis who swept home a low effort into Rice's bottom right corner.
Despite going behind after a strong first half display, the Ravens re-emerged for the second half with the same high quality and intensity.
Nine minutes into the second half, FC Isle of Man's Luke Murray produced a moment of pure brilliance to level the game.
He met a Ste Whitley cross before unleashing an astonishing overhead kick which sailed into the top corner to make it 1-1.
An impressive young Ravens side then hounded their opponents as the pace of the game rose further into the second half.
However, just like in their previous game, late heartache provided the sucker punch for the Ravens in the 84th minute.
A blistering counter-attack from West Didsbury & Chorlton from an FC IoM free-kick ended at the feet of 'West' striker, Dontai Gabidon, who rounded Rice in the Ravens net before chipping over the returning defenders and into the net to spark wild celebrations from the home support.
The 2-1 defeat means FC Isle of Man slip to 18th in the NWCFL Premier Division table on 13 points.
Their next game will be away against AFC Liverpool in the first round of the Macron Cup on Sunday, 16 October, kicking-off at 2pm.
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