Five Takeaways as Ravens Beat West Dids

Callum Sherry’s second half strike was enough to ensure FC Isle of Man beat longstanding rivals West Didsbury & Chorlton on Saturday evening.

But while Sherry’s calm finish just before the 80th minute saw the game’s only goal, there was much more to see as the Ravens climbed up to 11th.

Adam’s Eve

Having not played for the Ravens since August, Adam Killey was given the number 1 shirt for Saturday’s game and put in a man of the match display to help secure not only the three points, but also a clean sheet.

Killey made several big saves, including in the 33rd minute when Billy Matthews’ first time strike forced a smart save down to his left.

He went on to make a string of quality saves in the second half, but none better than in the 95th minute when Kieron Molloy was played in, only to see Killey get a big hand to it and secure the points.

Bouncing Back

After last week’s 6-1 drubbing by Kendal, the Ravens could’ve suffered from a bit of hangover, but Paul Jones and his coaches have done a good job of putting that behind everyone and they showed no signs of that result hanging around their necks and put in a very good team performance.

H&D

Dan Hattersley and Sean Doyle started upfront together on Saturday as the Ravens shifted to a two man front line. There were glimpses of what was to come and Doyle looked less isolated than he has been at some times this season.

However, with the two man attack, the Ravens looked a tad light in midfield at times, but with Danny Gerrard coming inside to support Tiernan Garvey and Kyle Watson, they never looked like losing control of the engine room.

At times the Ravens have struggled this year to be fluid in the final third and Hattersley and Doyle showed signs of an understanding, it will be interesting to see how this develops.

Numbers rising

Saturday saw 1,006 fans at the Bowl for the visit of West Dids, with the away side bringing around 100 over themselves. While unhelpful comparisons are often made to that first season, the Ravens have one of the highest average attendances in the division as the connection between the team and the fans continues to grow.

The fan group, ‘The Conspiracy’ have done a lot to improve the atmosphere at the Bowl and could be heard in full voice again on Saturday night.

Probably too much

The result on Saturday leaves the Ravens 12 points off the play-off sports with 11 games to go, they’ve almost certainly left too much to do and will be looking to finish strongly and build into next year.

But then again, what is football without a bit of overeager hope.