The eighth edition of this season’s Media Isle of Man Team of the Week welcomes another five new faces into the fold.
Three of those seasonal newcomers feature in a four-man midfield in the hypothetical XI, namely Rushen United’s Matty Lamb, St John’s United’s Cian Brock and St Mary’s man Chris Walsh.
The latter provided a superb display at the heart of the Saints midfield as the early pacesetters upset Laxey with a 4-1 victory at the Bowl, while Brock was the match winner for the Johnners in their hard-fought 1-0 home success over Union Mills.
Lamb delivered an eye-catching display to help Rushen claim a first win of the season against Marown.
Joining the trio in the TotW midfield is Ayre United’s former player of the year Shaun Kelly whose return to top form continued as he helped the Tangerines maintain their 100 percent winning start to the campaign.
Also impressing in Ayre’s northern derby victory over Ramsey was Kelly’s player/manager Nick Hurt who once again rolled back to the years, using his vast experience to help make the Andreas side difficult to score against.
As such, Hurt lines up in a traditional four-man defence alongside Corinthians’ Beren Colley, seasonal debutant Will Penhallurick of St John’s and Tar Phumsai of St Mary’s.
The latter earned his third TotW call-up of the season already after catching the eye with another quality display at left-back for the Saints against Laxey, while Colley once again produced an impressive performance at the back as the Whites keep a clean sheet against Braddan.
Having returned from injury, Penhallurick stood out at the heart of the St John’s defence as they kept a rare cleansheet in their potentially vital win over the Millers.
Donning the number one jersey behind that Team of the Week defence is Ramsey goalkeeper James Rice who earned his first TotW call-up of the campaign with a fine performance in the northern derby, producing several excellent saves to keep his side in the game.
At the other end of the pitch, Peel’s ruthless victory over Douglas Royal sees two westerners lead the line in Team of the Week, namely Lee Gale and Paul Whitehead.
The latter delivered another fine display in attack as he scored twice and also had a spectacular Rooney-esque overhead kick ruled out for offside, while Gale was the star of the show as the September player of the month had a hand in no fewer than six goals, scoring four and assisting two.
Claiming the refereeing honours for the second time this season is Rob Slinger who enjoyed another fine display with the whistle during the St John’s v Union Mills clash.
Goalkeeper
James Rice (Ramsey)
TotW apps:
Defence
Beren Colley (Corinthians) TotW apps: 2
Nick Hurt (Ayre) TotW apps: 2
Will Penhallurick (St John’s) TotW apps: 1
Tar Phumsai (St Mary’s)
TotW apps: 3
Midfield
Shaun Kelly (Ayre) TotW apps: 2
Matty Lamb (Rushen)
TotW apps: 1
Chris Walsh (St Mary’s)
TotW apps: 1
Cian Brock (St John’s)
TotW apps: 1
Attack
Lee Gale (Peel) TotW apps: 3
Paul Whitehead (Peel)
TotW apps: 2
Referee
Rob Slinger (St John’s v U. Mills) RotW apps: 2