An understrength FC Isle of Man fell to a 3-1 defeat away at Atherton LR on Wednesday night.
With a squad of just 14 players and missing regularly first team, Rick Holden’s side played well but ultimately ran out of steam in the second half.
After a fast paced start where both defences had to be switched on, the Ravens suffered an early disappointment as captain Michael Williams went off injured after just eight minutes.
The first chance of the game fell to Danny Gerrard after Will Decandia and Charlie Higgins had done well to win a corner.
Decandia swung that in, headed back across by Karl Clark, Gerrard was able to flick it on, but only straight into the arms of Joe Bickerstaffe.
Despite a couple of penalty shouts at either end, the game didn’t see many openings, with Adam Killey saving well down to his right when Atherton did get in behind the back line.
The home side would eventually break the deadlock in the 39th minute when George Chadwick prodded home after a bit of a scuffle in the box, giving them the lead at the break, 1-0.
Second Half
With the second period only just kicking into life, Higgins could have equalised as he went through on goal, but he fired wide of Bickerstaffe’s far post.
The Ravens would draw level within 10 minutes of the restart as Jamie Cadwallader was brought down by Bickerstaffe, with Higgins converting from the spot.
Despite this, the Ravens weren’t level for long as Thomas Romano cut in from the left to fire past Killey in the 60th minute.
The game went very flat after the second goal for the home side, with Williams’ centre back partner Al Maitland also forced off with an injury, leaving Holden to shuffle his already thinly spread resources.
Atherton added a third, with Chadwick scoring his second, late on in the half as he got on the end of a drilled cross to the back post.
The Ravens will be back in action on Saturday at home to Ramsbottom United.
