FC Isle of Man: Chris Bass Jr double leads The Ravens to promotion in first season

The Ravens secured promotion in their first season playing in the league

FC Isle of Man have crowned their debut season in the North West Counties League by securing promotion.

The Ravens beat New Mills 4-2 in a dramatic match at The Bowl, in Douglas, in the league's First Division South play-off final on Saturday evening.

Chris Bass Jr, son of the manager, scored twice and they will play in the league's Premier Division in 2022-23.

Captain Sean Doyle said it was "absolutely amazing" to win in front of a crowd of more than 3,200 fans.

They won 26 of their 39 league games to earn a place in the play-offs.

Sean Doyle said the team would enjoy the night before looking ahead to the next season

The Ravens took the lead first with a Bass Jr's first goal, but the lead was short lived as Kyle Oates equalised not much more than a minute later.

New Mills then went ahead shortly before half-time when Benito Lowe scored from a corner by Dan McKnight.

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, a header by Sean Quaye brought FC Isle of Man level and Luke Murray then put the home side into the lead again.

The Manx side's promotion was sealed when Bass netted his second of the evening from inside the box, earning him the Man of Match accolade.

He said afterwards that it had been a "brilliant night" for the club and the supporters.

"I haven't scored many this year, I've only scored two before tonight, and that was my aim. I think the kids said to me before tonight 'make sure you score daddy', so one for each of them. It was nice," Bass added.

Man of the Match Chris Bass Jr scored twice during the game

Doyle said the match had a "bit of everything" but it was an "absolutely amazing feeling to get the win in the end".

He continued: "At 2-1 I didn't know how we were going to get back into the game, but the boys stepped up in the second half and took care of it.

Looking ahead, he added: "We know that for next season we've got to start stronger, and obviously as always there's things we can work on, there's areas for improvement.

"But we've got to enjoy the night, we've got to celebrate, because obviously in a month or two we'll be back to training focused on the next season ahead."

Chris Bass Sr said he felt "ecstatic" over the team's promotion

Manager Chris Bass Sr said he was delighted for the people of the Isle of Man that the team had managed to produce the right result.

"I still think that the team can play a lot, lot, better. There's so much more to come from this group of players, but in terms of elation for a result, this tops it all," he said.

Reflecting on the challenge the team would face after being promoted he added: "This season was very tough, that's going to be a lot harder."