2nd-placed Shanklin kept up the pressure on league leaders, Whitecroft & Barton, by beating second-from-bottom Vectis 2-0 at the County Ground on Tuesday night.
Shanklin are now 5 points behind W&B at the top of Island League 1, with a game in hand over the reigning champions.
Vectis put up a surprisingly strong performance against one of the top sides in the division and were competitive throughout the game.
In a fairly even first half, it took Shanklin 43 minutes to overcome a stubborn and well-organized Vectis defence. Shanklin’s goal came courtesy of Ryan Hill, who chested the ball home from a corner.
HT: Shanklin 1-0 Vectis
Vectis came back strongly in the second half and had numerous half-chances to equalize. Vectis’ best scoring opportunity fell to Dan Verstraaten who had his powerful shot blocked by Shanklin goalkeeper, Dan Ward. Aaron Shephard then headed just over the Shanklin crossbar from the resulting corner.
However, Shanklin made certain of victory through a stunning 66th-minute goal by Peter Wilson, who took the ball from 30-yards, turned his opponent, and then blasted the ball into the bottom-left corner of the goal past outstretched Vectis keeper, Jordan Wicks.
FT: Shanklin 2-0 Vectis
After the game, Shanklin manager, Paul Haward, said:
“We’re just happy to get the 3 points. It was a really good game of football against a really good side.”
When asked about Shanklin’s chances of catching W&B at the top of the table, Paul replied:
“How can we catch W&B when they keep getting walkover wins?”
Visiting Vectis manager, Reece Biedler, said:
“I thought we might have got a draw from the game. We showed that we are more than able to compete against a top Island League side. We didn’t look out of place and made them work hard for their win.”
In other Tuesday night games in Island League 1, West Wight maintained their position in 3rd place in the table by beating a strong Cowes Sports reserve side 1-2 at Westwood Park.
The most remarkable game of the evening came at Vicarage Lane, Brading, where Brading Town beat the visiting Ryde Saints side 9-3. The goal scorers for the Romans were: Jordan Browne (4), Dan Vale, Matt Bennett, Harris Payne and George Colson.
In Island League 2, leaders Oakfield lost their 100% record, going down 0-4 to 3rd-placed Pan Sports at Slade Road.
Results for Tuesday 27th April
Harwoods Renault League Division 1: Bembridge 0-4 Northwood St Johns, Binstead & COB 2-0 Sandown, Brading Town 9-3 Ryde Saints, Cowes Sports Reserves 1-2 West Wight, Shanklin 2-0 Vectis, W&B H-W ECS
Division 2: Newchurch 2-1 Adgestone, Newport ‘A’ 4-2 AFC Wootton, Oakfield 0-4 Pan Sports, Wroxall A-W Niton Community, Yarmouth & Calbourne 1-0 Osborne Coburg
Results courtesy of Isle of Wight Divisional Football Association
