FC Isle of Man suffered a 2-1 defeat to Barnoldswick Town at the Bowl on Saturday evening in interim manager Rick Holden’s first match in charge.

The Ravens started brightly and took the lead on 27 minutes but lost to two second-half goals to leave the Manx side third from bottom in the North West Counties Premier Division standings.

The opening goal came from winger Ste Whitley after Joe Middleton stole the ball and set his team-mate away.

Whitley drove in from the halfway line, before cutting in and firing a low shot in at the near post to make it 1-0 to the hosts.

In front of a crowd of 572, the visitors from Lancashire responded well and should have levelled soon after through Ethan Gough whose close-range header was put wide.

Baronoldswick kept pressing and drew level in the 64th minute when Tyler Beck headed home unmarked from a corner.

Six minutes later, Barnoldswick completed the turnaround as substitute Luke Stowe’s deflected cross found Gareth Hill, who directed a looping header into the bottom corner of the net past home keeper Ben Wilkinson.

Despite a late push from the Ravens, chances were limited and 16th-place Barnoldswick held on to take the three points.

The Ravens will look to bounce back on Wednesday evening when they travel to face South Liverpool in their 15th game of the campaign.

Another away trip is scheduled for Saturday when Holden’s men travel to the division’s bottom side Litherland REMYCA.

The Merseyside team have only four points so far this campaign, their sole win coming against the City of Liverpool back in September.

They have also already played FC Isle of Man already once this season, drawing 0-0 at the Bowl on the opening day of the season.