The Ravens came into this fixture off the back of a string of mixed results but with the full expectancy to get 3 points at home to a Glossop North End side who sat 22nd in the table.
Glossop have recently put a very impressive performance in against Bury FC so this was going to be no walkover. Manager Paul Jones made some changes to the previous squad looking to give our home fans something to shout about having not played a home fixture in which felt like forever!
From kick off, it looked like the home side setup with Quayle and Garvey in a double pivot in midfield with a attacking foursome in Doyle, Leece, Whitley and Pinnington in the hole. There was an evident high tempo and press from FC IOM and that set the standard of the opening 10 minutes. Crook won a free kick 40 yards out, he whipped in the resulting free kick from the left hand side and it was pinpoint to allow Sean Doyle the opportunity to put the home side 1-0 up.
The Ravens weren’t finished there, as they doubled their lead 5 minutes later. Pinnington found the ball in a pocket of space in the number 10 position, he slid an immense pass through to Garvey who slotted home to make it 2-0.
Glossop struggled to find a foot in the match in the opening half hour, rarely testing Wilkinson and struggling to get in the home sides half. The match was extremely stop start with many niggly fouls from both sides which upset the flow of the match as we approached the half time whistle.
The Ravens came out flying in the second half, 2 minutes in Quayle played a fantastic ball over the top to send Crook away down the left hand side, he cut in and smashed the crossbar on the half volley extremely unlucky not to put the match out of sight.
The hour mark saw Glossop in on goal with a long ball over the top which found Freedman who dinked it over Wilkinson to make it 2-1, a very neat finish. Paul Jones responded by making 2 consecutive substitutions, Higgins entered for Leece although the FC IOM manager will feel hard done to that the substitution should have been made before conceding. Whitley then made way for club captain Jones to bring some seniority to the match.
Not long later, a fantastic switch from Crook found Pinnington on the right hand side he slipped Quayle in who’s daisy cutter of a cross found Captain Jones, after a scramble in the box it fell to the feet of Doyle who calmly found the corner of the net to make it 3-1.
With 15 left on the clock, Gerrard was brought into the game with Quayle making way. A following substitution was made in the form of fan favorite Davies for Doyle who ran his socks off all match.
A head injury in the final moments of the match allowed the Referee to add an additional 9 minutes added on including stoppages. This allowed Glossop to ‘throw the kitchen sink at it’ as they tested The Ravens nerves pilling the pressure on. It led to a second for the away side, as Etia found the back of the net. The final moments were very nervy but FC IOM held on for the 3 points which were deserved across the full match.
The Man of the Match was awarded to Jacob Crook by matchday sponsor Manx Ocean Group. We’d like to thank our fantastic fans for their support as we look forward to seeing them back at The Bowl for our next home fixture.
