FC Isle of Man came from behind to claim their third victory of the 2021-22 NorthWest Counties Football League season on Saturday.

It’s an old football cliché to describe a match as a game of two halves and the weekend’s encounter for the Ravens at Stockport Town certainly lived up to that billing.

This was a game of two halves of completely differing quality, tension and excitement.

The first half, despite there being three goals, was a drab affair with very little goalmouth action worth the name. The play mostly involved both the Ravens and Stockport invariably passing the ball back to each other, with the very odd flicker of quality lighting up in brief moments.

The second, by contrast, was completely the opposite, featuring pace, tension, bravery and no little skill.

Manager Chris Bass Sr was yet again unable to pick a settled team, losing both Dan Simpson and Adam Mealin from the previous game and, although Ryan Burns was fit again, injuries still played a big part in selection strategy.

Therefore it was a young squad that travelled to Stockport Sports Village for a fixture played in very hot, late-summer conditions.

After a dynamic start, the Ravens were lulled into a false sense of security and the game quickly turned into a midfield battle of little quality.

The lull was briefly broken in the 12th minute as Sean Doyle and Ste Whitley broke through the right side of the Town defence. Doyle wrong- footed the Stockport defender and seemed sure to put Whitley in on goal only to under hit the pass.

It was immediately intercepted by a Town defender who quickly transferred the ball to the left wing. Unfortunately the covering defender, Burns, slipped as he went to engage and the Stockport winger raced clean through and finished with aplomb across Dean Kearns’ goal.

There followed another 10 minutes of plenty of hard work and endeavour, but little in the way of football until Jack McVey invented something out of the blue, sending a sensational chipped pass into Doyle just inside the Town penalty area. The big striker skilfully took the ball down in one touch and toe-poked it past the Stockport goalkeeper with the second touch.

But within two minutes Stockport were back in front when a misplaced pass by the Ravens was seized upon and the ball was quickly switched to the opposite flank where the Town right winger subsequently raced in on goal to score.

The remainder of the first half saw plenty of effort, but little in terms of quality from either side. McVey hit a 30- yard free kick over the bar, while in the last minute of the half Whitley came alive and went on a rampaging run down the right flank. His cross was pin-perfect for the onrushing Ashley Higginbotham but his goal-bound header was saved by the Town keeper.

Right on the stroke of half-time, Bass Sr was forced into a substitution after Chris Cannell went down injured and was replaced by Sean Quaye. Ultimately, the veteran defender would go on to play his part in the second half.

From the restart, the Ravens looked a different team as they passed the ball around with purpose, intensity and accuracy, forcing a flurry of corners.

From one such set-piece the Ravens felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Doyle was seemingly hauled to the ground, only for the referee to rule a foul against the Manx striker.

Charlie Higgins’ speculative but pacey cross forced the Town keeper into a sharp save, before Higginbotham had a powerful shot blocked on the six-yard line.

During this time Stockport rarely got into the Ravens half but just before the hour they broke with purpose and two powerful drives were blocked one after the other by the excellent Alex Maitland and Burns respectively.

But it was the Ravens who remained in the ascendency and on 62 minutes the visitors equalised for a second time. Another corner from Whitley was whipped in towards the front post and Quaye stooped to skilfully guide the ball into the opposite corner.

Minutes later, Luke Murray picked up the ball in midfield and powered past three Stockport players before hitting a piledriver just wide.

There only looked one team in it at this point, but Matt Jansen’s hosts slowly got themselves back into the game with some clever passing and movement of their own, especially down either flank.

On 70 minutes it looked as if they would retake the lead after the Ravens lost possession in midfield and a Town midfielder raced through on goal, but blasted the ball way over Kearns’ bar.

Both teams sensed a win and the pace was frantic, which was a tribute to both sets of players considering the high temperatures with which they had to contend.

As tiredness set in, so too did some of those mistakes which had been abundant in the first half and both teams created half-chances off the back of them.

Then, with just under 15 minutes to play, Whitley raced clear one-on-one with his opposing full-back.

After two more Town players surrounded him it seemed the chance had gone, but with a feint to the right he accelerated inside to his left and smashed an unstoppable drive into the bottom right-hand corner, sparking pandemonium from the Ravens faithful in the stands and the most nervous last 10 minutes of the season to date.

Stockport effectively threw the kitchen sink into the Ravens’ penalty area during the closing minutes.

But apart from one chance when their left winger was sent through on goal only to place his shot just wide of the right-hand post, the defence stood firm and Kearns wasn’t really troubled as FC Isle of Man went on to claim a 3-2 victory.