It's 15 minutes to kick off. Ilkeston will be in all red. Notts County are in blue shirts and black shorts. The artificial pitch looks perfect and it looks like a fair turnout of fans.

Last edited by Matchman (17/7/2018 6:36 PM)

Notts first to attack and Mitchell has to save. Notts are looking sharp and dominating possession. Great sprint by Notts No 11 and Ilkeston have to concede a corner.    8 minutes     0-0.

Some lovely play by Notts as they continue to dominate possession but without creating clear cut opportunities.  Good Ilkeston attack ends with Marshall's header landing on the top of the net. Bennett's cross collected by Notts Keeper.  Better from Ilkeston now.    0-0    25 minutes

Fair chance for Notts but header goes over. Brave header by Shaw clears danger. Wheatley injury enables a drinks break  although its nearly half time anyway. Ref calls half time early as Wheatley is still flat out.   0-0

A few statistics so far courtesy of our crack media team.

Shots  :                    Ilkeston   3,  Notts County   6
Shots  on target  :    Ilkeston   1,  Notts County   1 
Corners  :                 Ilkeston  0,   Notts County   1
Fouls committed  :   Ilkeston   5,   Notts County   4    
 

Last edited by Matchman (17/7/2018 7:44 PM)

Free kick for Notts in decent position about 30 yards out and central. Shot goes over.  Bennett free kick is scrambled away for Ilkeston's first corner.  Goal for Notts on 48 minutes.   Ilkeston 0 Notts 1   

Second Goal for Notts. No stopping that one   0-2    58 minutes

Promising attack by Ilkeston but final shot is disappointingly wide. Malachi  is looking comfortable on the ball going forward.  Ilkeston close to equaiser and should have scored. Then Hopkinson shot rattles the bar. Good   pressing by Ilkeston as they look capable of levelling the score.  EQUALISER !    It was coming   Hopkinson the scorer 82 minutes    2-2.

Ilkeston close again as we approach full time.  Late corner for Ilkeston.  That's the final whistle and a creditable performance by all of the Ilkeston players against a skilful Notts County. 

Following comfortable workouts against Rossington Main and Underwood Villa, Ilkeston faced a much sterner task when they entertained a Notts County Xl at Basford. Ilkeston's starting lineup was : 1 Mitchell, 2 Fairclough, 3 Walker, 4 Shaw, 5 Jemson, 6 Tom Marshall, 7 Jordan Wheatley, 8 Morris, 9 Alex Marshall, 10 Reeves, 11 Bennett. Notts started strongly and dominated the early stages with some slick passing but despite having the lion's share of possession, they were unable to create many chances. Halfway through the first half Alex Marshall nearly put Ilkeston ahead but his header landed on the roof of the net. Notts were playing some good stuff but without testing Liam Mitchell. As half time approached Jordan Wheatley was injured and after a long delay, the referee decided to end the first half prematurely. Wheatley was eventually stretchered off.
Ilkeston made two changes at the start of the second half with Jamie Hannis replacing Liam Mitchell in goal and Kyle Dixon replacing injured Jordan Wheatley. Notts struck early after the restart with McKenna giving them the lead on 48 minutes.They then doubled their lead through Campbell ten minutes later with a strike from the edge of the area.Ilkeston almost replied instantly but Bennett's shot was just too high. On the hour both teams made several changes. Ilkeston introduced nine fresh players : Brown, Rickford, Hodgett-Young, Ryan Wheatley, Green, White, Hopkinson, Whitehurst and Lavelle-Moore. 0n 63 minutes Conor Green pulled one back for Ilkeston. Lavell White blocked an attempted clearance and the ball fell nicely for Green to blast in. The goal gave Ilkeston a lift and they started to look more dangerous going forward. Whitehurst had a goal bound effort blocked then Hopkinson's shot rattled the crossbar. The equaliser came on 82 minutes when Green crossed for Hopkinson to score from close range. Ilkeston weren't finished and Whitehurst went close again before Ryan Wheatley's header hit the angle of post and crossbar and Lavelle-Moore fired wide.  Ilkeston's big finish just failed to produce a winner but a draw was still a creditable result. There were some good performances by several Ilkeston players as they pressed their claims for a starting place. Defenders Tom Marshall and Charlie Jemson stood out in the first half which Notts dominated but in a more open second half Ilkeston's lively attack came very close to winning the game.