Al Maitland scored his second goal in two days as 10-man FC Isle of Man fought back to claim a 2-2 draw against nine-man Prestwich Heys at the Bowl on Sunday morning.

The second part of the Ravens’ weekend double header, the game followed Saturday afternoon’s 3-3 draw against Pilkington (see separate report).

After a tense opening 10 minutes, Prestwich took the lead after some impressive skill from Takura Sambizi.

The young winger got past Callum Sherry and his shot come cross was turned home by Lee Grimshaw despite a prolonged protest by the Ravens defence seeking an offside flag that would never come.

With chances at a premium, Harley Jackson fired over from distance for the Ravens, while Maitland did well to get a block in to deny Luke Byron a clear sight of goal after an impressive piece of skill in the box.

As the game looked set to head into the break with the Ravens behind, skipper Sean Doyle drew the home side level when he reacted first after a Ste Whitley free-kick came his way and his shot took a big deflection to leave Prestwich’s Harry Allen with no chance.

With neither side able to create much in the opening exchanges of the second half, Prestwich again took the lead with just over an hour on the clock.

Sambizi broke free down the left and went round Adam Killey in the Ravens’ goal, slotting into the empty net to give relegation threatened Prestwich the lead.

The hill got that bit steeper for the Ravens soon after as Dean Pinnington, who had only come off the bench a few moments earlier, was shown a straight red card for a foul on David Edwards.

With 15 minutes left, Prestwich broke from a Ravens free-kick but Sherry did well to fight off a numerical disadvantage as the visitors rushed forward.

What followed was chaos as Kyle Watson sought to lead a Ravens’ breakaway but was hauled down and in the ensuing melee two Prestwich players were sent off as Edwards and sub Connor Martin both received red cards.

Despite having the extra man, FC Isle of Man struggled to open up the away side’s defence, Doyle going closest when his header from a Dan Simpson cross went just wide.

The Ravens fans and players were left screaming for a penalty after a scramble in the box caused by a free-kick when Jack McVey was unable to turn home a rebound and, in the pinball that followed, it appeared a visiting defender using his arm to prevent the ball going in.

But the officials were unmoved and only awarded the corner.

Justice was done from a Ravens’ point of view from the resulting corner though, as Al Maitland reacted quickest when the ball dropped and guided the ball into the bottom corner to make it 2-2 in the 96th minute.

The Ravens had one final chance to win it as Doyle got on the end of a cross, but his header was inches wide, with the final whistle soon to follow.

- FC Isle of Man are back in action on home soil again this weekend when they entertain South Liverpool at the Bowl on Saturday evening, kicking off at 6pm.

SAM TURTON