The topsy-turvy world of Manx football took another twist on Saturday when Union Mills beat Onchan 5-4 in dramatic fashion.

By doing so, the Garey Mooar outfit all but secured a first Railway Cup semi-final berth in the club’s 100-plus year history.

Last year Mills was a team that flirted with relegation and was largely written off in the Four-Five-One pre-season predictions as amongst the favourites to fall through the relegation trapdoor.

This season, manager Paul Guiver has galvanised and re-energised what was nearly the same squad of players from the last campaign and now the Clarets are sailing into uncharted waters, scaling the dizzy heights by occupying second place in the Premier League.

On a cold, biting day, the hosts got off to the ideal start after three minutes when Luke Booth was freed down the right and squared his pass for Tyler Hughes to stroke home from close range.

Most of the first half was a largely uneventful affair, as Onchan lost the services of Ethan Lievers through injury around the halfway stage, while Paul Whitley’s effort was ruled out for offside before the break

After the restart, the real drama started to unfold. The Millers doubled their lead after Jordan Crawley’s corner found Booth to head home, then on 54 minutes Matthew Milligan’s through-ball to Hughes saw the latter drive his shot into the net and put the hosts 3-0 up.

Five minutes later though, Onchan proved they were made of stern stuff when Whitley’s corner found Will Miller who accidentally steered the ball into his own net to pull a goal back.

Then on 64 minutes Owen Quayle fouled Tom Lancaster in the box, giving Leo Fox the opportunity to drive home the resulting spot-kick to make it 3-2.

Union Mills had what appeared to be the perfect response two minutes later when Booth passed inside from the left and Milligan dinked home at the near post for their fourth.

With the match entering the closing phase, nerves started to kick in for the hosts which the visitors took full advantage of.

On 84 minutes, Whitley’s pass inside was met by Lancaster’s run to sweep home and, with Millers losing their shape, the match took another dramatic twist. On 89 minutes James Leece’s cross was dropped by keeper Mason Prince and the ensuing tangle of legs saw another penalty awarded. Fox again made no mistake from the spot to draw the scores level 4-4.

With the match in added time, Mills were presented with an opportunity which proved decisive. On 92 minutes, Bailey Ashton’s throw-in was missed by everyone in a congested penalty area and a half-clearance fell to Booth who swung his pass to an unmarked Miller who slammed home the winner.

This match will be talked about in many more years to come at Garey Mooar.