The Manx Hockey Association’s men’s second team travelled to Lancashire to play Garstang firsts in the second round of the England Hockey Tier Three Championship Plate on Saturday.
This season is the first time the island has entered a second men’s team in the EH competitions.
After narrowly losing their first Tier Three cup match on penalty shuffles against last year’s runners-up West Bridgford in their first game together, the plate competition offered the team a second chance for a cup run.
The Manx team started brightly, controlling possession and creating several early chances.
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After 10 minutes, the pressure eventually resulted in a penalty flick after a goalmouth scramble saw a shot saved on the line by a Garstang body. George Powell stepped up to take the flick and calmly put the IoM 1-0 up.
The islanders continued to dominate, with the midfield combination of Josh Dougal, Tom Tsitsos and Tom Lothian linking up well.
Despite a succession of short corners and open play opportunities, it took another 15 minutes before Kyle Gunnion provided a second goal with a well-taken finish over the Garstang goalkeeper.
Powell quickly added a third two minutes later to give the Isle of Man a 3-0 lead at half-time.
The second half was a scrappier affair as Garstang defended deeper and closed down some of the space the IoM had exploited in the first half.
But the Manx side remained on top, with solid defensive work restricting Garstang to a single shot for the entire match which goalkeeper Juan Bellando easily dealt with.
Tsitsos extended the lead with a near-post strike which wrong-footed the Garstang keeper, before Ethan Adams slotted in for a fifth goal following good work from Powell.
Captain John Verrall added a sixth in the last five minutes, the veteran scoring his first in an island shirt with a clinical finish.
Powell was named man of the match, with Verrall and Stevie Ronan also putting in noteworthy performances.
- The team now progress to the quarter-finals which are due to take place on March 9
NEIL CROWE