Shaun Kelly continued his superb run of form to earn yet another place in the latest Isle of Man Newspapers’ Team of the Week.

The Ayre United ace has enjoyed an excellent start to the 2021-22 Canada Life Premier League season and picked up the Player of the Month award for September.

The northern powerhouse has carried that form into October and produced a man-of-the-match performance against league leaders Rushen United on Saturday, also earning the player of the day plaudits.

His hat-trick enabled the Tangerines to triumph 3-1 and move level on points with the Spaniards, therefore it looks like being a competitive title race this season.

As such, Kelly earns his fourth Team of the Week call-up of the campaign already and he duly takes his place in a three-man midfield alongside Douglas Royal’s Kyle Watson and Ramsey’s Dylan Pickles.

The latter man - usually a forward - showcased his versatility with a top game in the heart of Ramsey’s midfield during their stunning 7-0 win over Laxey at Glen Road, chipping in with a goal in the process.

Watson is really catching the eye of Royal at the moment and has played a key role in his side’s fine start to the season, helping the Ballafletcher side edge past Marown last Saturday.

Continuing the northern theme to this week’s hypothetical XI are three players from Ramsey and Ayre who lined up in a four-man defence alongside Peel’s Andrew Crennell, the latter maintaining his impressive start to the season in the westerners’ 5-0 win at Union Mills.

The players in question are Tangerines duo Christian Penswick and George Rawlinson as well as Ramsey’s Greg Hepburn.

The latter enjoyed a sound game at the back during the aforementioned win at Laxey, while Penswick didn’t put a foot wrong at right-back and Rawlinson excelled at centre-back against Rushen’s normally prolific attack in Andreas.

Another northern player to shine was Ramsey goalkeeper James Rice who produced several important first-half saves against Laxey which laid the foundations for the Ballacloan side’s emphatic win against the Miners and earned him the TotW number one jersey.

On another high-scoring day in the Premier League, the Team of the Week front three boast no fewer than eight goals between them.

Leading the way were Paul Whitehead and Robbie Ward who both netted hat-tricks for Peel and DHSOB during their sides’ respective games against Union Mills at St George’s.

Ultimately though, Ward’s treble proved to be in vain as Ciaran McNulty was the hero for Geordies, scoring twice and setting up several goals as the Glencrutchery Road side fought back from two goals down to triumph at Blackberry Lane.

Claiming the refereeing honours this week - and for the third time already this season - is Stuart Kneen who impressed in the middle of the top-of-the-table clash between Ayre and Rushen in Andreas.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Goalkeeper

James Rice (Ramsey) TotW apps: 1

Defence

Christian Penswick (Ayre) TotW apps: 1

Greg Hepburn (Ramsey) TotW apps: 1

Andrew Crennell (Peel) TotW apps: 1

George Rawlinson (Ayre) TotW apps: 1

Midfield

Kyle Watson (D Royal) TotW apps: 2

Shaun Kelly (Ayre) TotW apps: 4

Dylan Pickles (Ramsey) TotW apps: 1

Attack

Ciaran McNulty (St George’s) TotW apps: 2

Paul Whitehead (Peel) TotW apps: 1

Robbie Ward (DHSOB) TotW apps: 2

Referee

Stuart Kneen (Ayre Utd v Rushen Utd)

RotW apps: 3