Peel footballer Lee Gale makes his ninth appearance of the season in the latest instalment of Media Isle of Man’s Team of the Week.
The western winger is enjoying a sublime campaign for the Sunset City outfit and ensured his team remained top of the Canada Life Premier League with victory against Marown last Saturday.
Gale fired in a hat-trick to rubberstamp a 4-0 win over the Crosby side which means Peel remain three points clear of Ayre United at the top, albeit the latter have two games in hand.
The Tangerines were made to work hard for their latest victory as they were forced to come from behind to beat Laxey in Andreas, therefore the Miners are also well represented in the latest hypothetical XI.
The Glen Road side were on top for large spells and, but for an outstanding performance by Ayre United goalkeeper Nathan Teare, they may well have claimed all three points.
As a result, Teare dons the number one jersey in Team of the Week behind a four-man defence featuring Laxey’s Will Cowin, Peel’s Luke Doherty, St Mary’s man Karl Clark and Braddan’s Matty Ogden.
The latter pair went head-to-head at the Bowl where the Saints had to come from behind to get the better of the Swans 3-2 but only after a hard-fought battle in which both centre-backs were in fine form.
Cowin produced a superb game for the Miners in a defensive midfield role, frustrating title challengers Ayre while pressing forward at every opportunity, while Doherty was in typically impressive form at the heart of the Peel defence that kept a clean sheet against Marown.
The aforementioned Gale stole the show in that match at Douglas Road, opening the scoring early on for the westerners before going on to complete a hat-trick and therefore earn his place in the TotW midfield.
Joining him in the centre of the park are Chris Walsh of St Mary’s plus Ayre’s Declan Cummins. The latter continued his excellent season for the northerners with another top-notch display against Laxey, while Walsh dominated the midfield battle against Braddan at the Bowl to lay the foundations for the Saints’ success.
Also playing a key role for St Mary’s and claiming the man of the match honours was his team-mate Adam Adebiyi who was a constant threat up front and produced a timely equaliser with a bullet header.
As such, he takes his place in a three-man attack alongside Peel’s Tomas Brown and Laxey’s Adam Mealin.
Brown was also on the scoresheet for the westerners at Douglas Road, scoring Peel’s second and having a hand in one of Gale’s strikes to put Marown to the sword, while reigning Player of the Month Mealin continued his fine form with an impressive display against Ayre when he was a constant threat throughout.
Claiming the refereeing honours this week is Andy Lodge who enjoyed a fine game in the middle of the St Mary’s v Braddan game to continue his good season with the whistle.