AFC Liverpool v FC Isle of Man, 29th August 2022

We had got 40 programmes printed, not anticipating an attendance of nearly 250. On a couple of occasions on the turnstile I feared we would run out of change.

After leaving turnstile duties, I made my way slowly to the Crossender Road end of Rossett Park. As I walked through many of the travelling support, the ball was centered from our right and number 7 Tom Douglas volleyed home to give the Reds the lead. On 21 minutes Oliver Sanderson-Rigby's Cross ball to the back post was met by the Head of Luke Stephens from a tight angle. We were 2-0 up and firmly in control.

Just before the half hour mark the Ravens found an unexpected route back into the game. Jack McGovern brought down one of their forwards who was not really going towards the goal, but he still fouled him regardless. The penalty was duly despatched and it was now 2-1. For the next 10 minutes the visitors' confidence was up and it seemed they were more likely to be the next scorer if there was to be another scorer before half time. But a second Luke Stephens header just before the break restored the Reds' two goal advantage.

Now Kenny on his trip to the bar missed Luke Stephens' 2nd, and he also missed the first few minutes of the second half where we added a fourth through Oliver Sanderson-Rigby, and Jay Howell got played through shortly afterwards to place the ball just the wrong side of the post. Olly's effort was described by Greg on our Twitter page as a magnificent strike from outside the area which flew into the net.

For much of the second half the Reds looked the more likely to score again, but got frustrated a few times by the linesman's flag. Luke Stephens missed an opportunity to complete an unlikely hat-trick.
For their part, the Ravens did produce an effort which hit our woodwork.

Going into injury time, substitute Adam Brooks powered into the area on the left hand side and scored his first goal for the Reds to make it 5-1. Then almost immediately the Ravens did go and get another back at the other end to complete a 5-2 scoreline.

Sat to the left of me during the second half was one man from the Isle of Man who was there I think with his three Grandsons. We had a very healthy exchange of views throughout, and he was very understanding when I said I would not be able to make the trip for the return fixture in Douglas in December due to work commitments. We were due to play FC Isle of Man again in Crosby in mid-October in the League Cup, on this gentleman's birthday.

The result put us on 18 points from 7 games, and 2nd in the table at that early stage. When I spoke to Manager Matt Potter after the game he was very clear the first main objective was to get to 40 points and safety! 

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