Ten-man FC Isle of Man secure late draw against Burscough

Ravens battle back to share spoils at The Bowl

A late Charlie Higgins strike saw ten-man FC Isle of Man secure a late 1-1 draw against high-flying Burscough in the NWCFL Premier Division this evening (5 September).

Burscough - who came into the weekend as league leaders - started strongly and led inside four minutes thanks to a composed finish from Caleb Jones.

'The Ravens' battled throughout to get on level terms but found themselves at a disadvantage when Callum Sherry was sent off with ten minutes of normal time left.

Despite the odds, however, Higgins pounced on a Burscough defensive mix-up in the 89th minute to slot home from close range to see the points shared in a feisty encounter.

Both teams went into tonight's showdown off of the back of strong starts to the campaign - the Manx side were hoping to follow up an emphatic midweek victory against a Burscough side starting the weekend as the league's early frontrunners.

True to their rich current form, Burscough started brightly and were rewarded for their efforts just four minutes in.

A sweeping counter-attack concluded with Nathan Giblin on the left squaring across the FC Isle of Man penalty area to Jones who calmly passed an effort back across goal and into the far corner.

Ten minutes later, Jones threatened again only to see a low strike from a tight angle saved by the right boot of FC Isle of Man goalkeeper, Adam Killey.

Whilst, as the half went on, momentum began to switch in favour of the hosts, FC Isle of Man still struggled to create any clear-cut openings against a resilient Burscough defence, resulting in the away side taking their slender lead into the half-time break.

After the restart and with the game taking a more physical and feisty tone as both sides battled for supremacy, FC Isle of Man's first big opening came on 52 minutes as Will Cowin raced free down the left and into the box before sending a powerful shot whistling over the crossbar.

The Islanders ramped up the pressure as the second period wore on but were dealt a blow with ten minutes of normal time left when Sherry - already on a caution - clipped the heels of Burscough striker, Joel Skillen on the edge of the FC Isle of Man penalty area with referee, Isaac Santons-Munn showing Sherry red to leave the Manx side still scrambling for an equaliser but a man lighter.

This, however, didn't seem to halt FC Isle of Man who managed to keep up their charge on the Burscough backline and finally found a break through on 89 minutes.

Substitute, Adam Adebiyi rolled his marker inside the Burscough penalty area before squaring across goal where Burscough's Matthew Jamieson failed to clear allowing Higgins to slide in and poke the ball into the net from close range.

Despite this setting up the stage for a grand finale to the contest, there wasn't to be any late drama as both would have to settle for a point apiece under the floodlights.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be away against Nelson on Saturday, 12 September, kicking-off at 2pm.

Man of the Match: Freddie O'Donoghue (FC Isle of Man)