Five Takeaways as Ravens Battle Back

FC Isle of Man put in a battling second-half display to beat Longridge Town on Saturday evening, with Ste Whitley’s cross/shot in added time the difference maker.

Here’s what Sam picked up on.

First Half Woes

Longridge dominated the first half and deserved their two-goal lead. Exploiting a lack of width from the Ravens in the first 45, the visitors got in twice down the left and scored twice in four minutes. The Ravens struggled to create much in the half, with Sean Doyle’s header the only effort of note, but even that sailed over the bar.

Hattersley and Doyle

While the first half was disappointing, the Ravens regrouped at half-time and after a sustained period of pressure got a goal back when Sean Doyle headed home from Jacob Crook’s cross.

They were soon level when Longridge tried to play out from a short goal kick, with Dan Hattersley’s effort cannoning back off the bar, landing fortuitously back at his feet, allowing the striker to score his first since signing for the Ravens.

While seeing the pair score was welcomed, they are showing signs of an understanding and linking up more, which will be a welcome sight to Ravens fans who have seen Doyle isolated upfront at times this season.

Whitley

While Hattersley and Doyle pulled the Ravens level, it was Ste Whitley who was to grab the headlines with a 90th-minute winner, whether it was a shot or a cross doesn’t matter, it went in.

Whitley has been far less prominent this season, but after playing over 50 games last season and having to be the man with Doyle and others injured, he’s looked fresh and creative when he has played this term and could have a big say in how the rest of the season plays out.

Formation

We don’t usually get into tactics much, but it was noted by several in the media area on Saturday that to fit Hattersley and Doyle in, the Ravens are trying to work out a different formation to get the best out of them. Saturday’s first half showed the dangers of this as the Ravens looked a bit unbalanced and narrow.

However, credit where credit is due, Paul Jones made changes for the second half which rejuvenated his side. I sure wouldn’t want to have to work this out every week, but how the Ravens develop their formation in the coming weeks and months will be interesting to watch.

The Conspiracy

The final mention of the week goes to the home crowd. The Bowl was always quite a nice play for visiting teams to come to, save for shouts of ‘you fat bastard aaaaa’ reserved for opposition keepers, the home crowd never really created a difficult environment.

That has changed in recent weeks and months, largely due to the dedicated band (and drumming) of the 12th man group.

While making noise all game, the sending off of Callum Sherry saw the crowd turn and really ramp up the noise.

The Ravens have the second-highest average attendance in the league (852), behind only Bury and some 200 ahead of West Dids in third.

Serving as great ambassadors for the club and the island home and away, the Ravens faithful know their role and play it almost as well as Mel plays the drum.