Goals were flying in at both ends for FC Isle of Man during the pre-season ‘Summer Festival of Football’ which took place at the Bowl over the weekend.
First taking on National League North side Chester FC, the Ravens then hosted Radcliffe FC on Sunday afternoon.
The home side were looking to build on impressive pre-season wins over Brackley Town and Ashton Town FC against Chester on Friday night, but soon found themselves behind against their higher-ranked opposition.
After a fairly evenly contested opening 10 minutes, Tom Peers fed youngster Iwan Murray, whose first-time finish from 12 yards found the bottom corner before Ravens keeper Adam Killey.
The away side continued to have the momentum following the opener, and nearly doubled their lead twice. Charlie Caton’s toe-poke was saved smartly by Killey, before Peers then smashed the ball off the underside of the crossbar after the Ravens’ defence had failed to clear.
Chester were made to pay for their missed opportunities just before the half-hour mark, when Ste Whitley’s pinpoint through ball to Dean Pinnington saw the forward race into the penalty area and expertly dink the ball over the onrushing Cam Mason from the angle to equalise.
Parity didn’t last long, however, when the Ravens backline were guilty of losing the ball while playing out from the back. Presenting the ball to Chester talisman Declan Weeks, the midfielder took a touch before sweeping the ball home from six yards.
The lead was further extended two minutes later, as the rattled Ravens were unable to prevent the ever lively Tom Peers from racing through, latching onto a forward pass and smashing the ball past Killey.
The Seals made six changes at the break and were clearly the better side at the start of the second half, Killey making two smart saves to deny Peers.
After weathering the storm, the Ravens then found themselves back in the game through Charlie Higgins. The silky right winger had been terrorising Chester’s left side for the entirety of the game, and deservedly got his goal when he carried the ball from 40 yards before calmly placing it past Mason into the bottom left corner.
The hope of a comeback did not last long. Man of the match Peers curled a beauty into Killey’s far-left corner two minutes later after being set up by Reece Daly.
The score became 2-5 five minutes later, when a long ball launched forward by Chester goalkeeper Cam Mason wasn’t dealt with by the Ravens defence, leaving Dan Turner with space and time to finish.
That was how it ended, with FC Isle of Man being outclassed by a side who are three divisions above them in the English football pyramid.
The Ravens didn’t have to wait long to get back into action, facing newly promoted National League North side Radcliffe FC at the Bowl on Sunday afternoon.
The home side had a 2-0 half time lead with goals from Luke Murray and Charlie Higgins, who scored his second goal in two games.
However, the visitors roared into a second half comeback and took a 3-2 lead with goals from Luca Navarro, Jake Thompson and Ewan Bange.
Substitute Adam Adebiyi was to come to the rescue for the Ravens with a smart equaliser in the 84th minute, with the game ending 3-3.
The home fans were treated to a total of 13 goals in FC Isle of Man’s two games in the tournament, with pre-season preparations now fully underway.