Whitley stunner sees FC Isle of Man beat South Liverpool

Ravens strike late to claim victory and end recent losing run

A late wonderstrike from Ste Whitley saw FC Isle of Man snatch a 3-2 victory over South Liverpool in the NWCFL Premier Division this evening (24 January).

South Liverpool led first through a Sam Mullally header from a corner before two goals in six minutes from Whitley and Shaun Kelly put the Manx side in front at half-time.

Neil Weaver restored parity for South Liverpool three minutes into the second half before Whitley fired home from long distance in the 86th minute to hand 'The Ravens' all three points.

The result ends a three-match losing streak for FC Isle of Man and sends them 14 points clear of the relegation zone.

Tonight's meeting was one of two teams both hoping to end respective three-game losing runs in early 2026.

After an initially cagey start, South Liverpool grabbed the lead in the 13th minute when a Neil Weaver corner from the left was nodded home by Sam Mullally from around four yards out.

For much of the remainder of the first half, the visitors looked comfortable before that changed on the 39th minute.

In space on the right, Ste Whitley trapped a floated cross before advancing to the edge of the box, cutting onto his left foot and arrowing a strike past South Liverpool goalkeeper, Lucas Allan into the far top corner to level the contest.

With a new lease of life, FC Isle of Man pushed further late in the first period and grabbed another before the break.

With one minute of normal time in the first half remaining, FC Isle of Man broke on the counter-attack, ending with Jacob Crook on the left flank firing low across the South Liverpool penalty area to Shaun Kelly who, sliding in, diverted his shot under Allan and into the net.

Trailing at the break, South Liverpool were out the traps early in the second half and got their reward on 48 minutes when a long ball over the FC Isle of Man defence fell to Weaver who saw goalkeeper, Adam Killey off his line and delivered a deft lob which sailed in to make the tie all-square once more.

As the second half wore on, FC Isle of Man began to apply more pressure in search of a winner and would find it in style with 86 minutes on the clock.

Whitley again found space on the right before dancing past two challenges and unleashed an unstoppable 30-yard drive into Lucas Allan's top right-hand corner to hand FC Isle of Man all three points in dramatic fashion.

FC Isle of Man's next match will be against Atherton LR on Tuesday, 28 January, kicking-off at 7.45pm.