Ellan Vannin were shown a masterclass in how to play football in their last group game of the ConIFA European Football Cup on Wednesday night.

The Manx were beaten 4-2 by Szekely Land from Hungary ending their hopes of advancing to the Northern Cyprus-based tournament’s semi-finals.

Having won and lost one in their opening two games Chris Bass Sr’s team knew they needed a positive result if the were to advance into the competition’s last four.

Szekely Land had in their squad a Hungarian international and a player who featured in the Champions League for Steaua BucureÈ?ti and the class showed with some exceptional football that took them into an early two-goal lead against a much changed Ellan Vannin team to the one that had beat Felvidek the previous evening.

The first half belonged to the Hungarians and it was obvious that Chris Bass would have to make some changes to try and stem the flow and this he did with the introduction of St George’s quartet Ciaran McNulty, Sam Caine, Frank Jones and Jack McVey in the second half.

However, a header from a corner and a penalty saw Szekely Land take a four-goal lead and it looked like the dream of reaching the semi-final was over.

Nevertheless, Ellan Vannin’s never say die attitude and the fitness work that has been carried out with the squad over the past six weeks started to show and the Manx started to take control for the first time in the match.

The final 15 minutes of the fixture saw a brace from Ciaran McNulty bring the islanders back to within two goals.

In the 85th minute the referee blew for a foul just as a header from Seamus Sharkey hit the back of the net.

The Manx continued to press with chances being created from excellent crosses from Chris Bass Jr and Joey Morling but some last-ditch defending and missed opportunities meant the comeback was halted.

Friday’s play-off game against Ukrainian border region Karpatalja is not a ’dead rubber’ for the Manx with a win being a must to gain nine points towards qualification for the CONIFA World Cup in June 2018 in London. The organisers have also informed EV that this match will be played in the main stadium in Nicosia.

Starting XI

Andrew Perry, Alex Harrison, Sean Quaye, Seamus Sharkey, Chris Bass Jr, Joey Morling, Marc Kelly, Chris Cannell, Conor Doyle, Mike Williams, Furo Davies. Substitutes used Ciaran McNulty, Frank Jones, Sam Caine, Jack McVey.