FC Isle of Man’s encouraging start to the new North West Counties Premier Division season continued on Saturday as they drew 1-1 with early leaders Burscough at the Bowl.

The visitors from West Lancashire took a third-minute lead in front of the 501-strong crowd when Caleb Jones slotted in.

Lee Dixon’s Ravens went in search of an equaliser, but couldn’t find a leveller as Burscough began to pose a threat on the counter-attack.

In the second half, the hosts continued to push forward with Will Cowin’s effort clipping the bar.

Substitute Tomas Brown and youngster Jimmy Lowther were the next go close for the Ravens, but the Burscough defence continued to hold firm.

As the game entered its final 10 minutes, FC Isle of Man were reduced to 10 men when defender Callum Sherry picked up his second yellow card of the match.

Nevertheless, the Ravens managed to muster an equaliser with with only a minute left of normal time when last season’s top scorer Charlie Higgins netted to grab his side a share of the points.

FC Isle of Man physio Rick Holden said the point was fully deserved: ‘We started slowly, but after that we dominated. I think a 1-1 draw flatters them.

‘We’ve got a lot of injuries to deal with this week, but at the end of the day they were top of the league and we’re two points behind them with a game in hand. It’s a good start to the season.’

The result leaves the islanders in sixth place in the early standings, ahead of Saturday afternoon’s trip to Nelson.

Two home games then follow against Charnock Richard the following weekend and Widnes Town on September 26. The latter game marks the Ravens’ return to Macron Cup after electing not to contest it for the past few seasons.