.

Hopefully we can sign off with an important win against our promotion rivals, leaving us in the best possible position for when we resume playing in December. I expect that it will be a 400 capacity crowd so get there early if you want to watch the match. We really need to win this one in case the season is cut short and "points per game" is used to determine final placings. 

Three points would put us level with Leek on 16 points and with a game in hand.

Best scenario for us on the night would be an Ilkeston win, with Newcastle and Kidsgrove both dropping points.


 

Last edited by Matchman (02/11/2020 3:37 PM)

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It's matchday and we need all the support we can get tonight. Of course there's a long way to go but in a close battle for promotion we need to beat our rivals or at least, not lose to them.

We knew that Leek and Stamford would be challengers this season but other teams are looking good.  Newcastle, Kidsgrove and Worksop have made impressive starts. Carlton and Cleethorpes have made poor starts but there's time for them to recover. Belper are likely to be in the mix as are Loughborough Dynamo.

So that's nine teams likely to really test us and the others apart from Wisbech and Market Drayton are capable of springing a surprise.

It would be a massive boost to our promotion chances if we can beat Leek tonight. It won't be easy but we can do it.
We need you support.  Only 300 watched us when we played Chasetown. We need more tonight. It will be worth making the effort to see a highly competitive match.

For the many people who are unable to turn out, there will be match updates as usual.


 

Ilkeston team :
1 Ross Durrant, 2 Joe Wilson, 3 Billy Bennett, 4 Riece Bertram, 5 Joe Maguire, 6 Kieran fenton, 7 Jack Thomas, 8 James Cullingworth, 9 Alex Troke, 10 Zak Goodson, 11 Ollie Brown-Hill.
Subs : 12 Mason Lee, 14 Charlie Marzano, 15 Alex render, 16 Mitchell Tait, 17 Richard Stainsby.

Leek Town
1 Daniel Roberts, 2 Jessy Bavanganga, 3 Louis Keenan, 4 Marc Grocott, 5 Oliver Harrison, 6 Ryan Shotton, 7 Daniel Trickett-Smith, 8 William Reeves, 9 Tim Grice, 10 Matthew Bell, 11 Will Saxon.
Subs :  12 James Kirby, 14 Lewis Short, 15 Leon Ashman.

Ilkeston attacking car park end      We're off 

GOAL Ilkeston  Brown-Hill Pass finds Troke and it's 1-0      11 minutes

Leek are looking strong just now. Lots of stoppages for petty infringements and offsides.  Great shot by Trickett-Smith is only just too high.       1-0     22 minutes

Fenton again does well. Ilkeston are under some pressure but defending well so far. Ilkeston free kick wide right after Wilson brought down.  Brown-Hills cross so close to being turned in.  First Yellow card for Leek's Grocott.  Brown-Hill Shot brilliantly tipped over for corner   Good spell for Ilkeston.       1-0  35   minutes

The players are back out and the second half is underway. 

Great save by Leek keeper from Goodson. Bertram header hits the bar as Ilkeston battle back.   Brown-Hill tripped in area but ref doesn't give it.     1-1        60 minutes

Great response by Ilkeston.  3 corners in quick succession.  Terrific pressure by Ilkeston but they're risking getting caught as Leek break. Bennett effort blocked. Thomas feeds Goodson but he's beaten to it. Bennett has been excellent.  Goodson replaced by Lee  on 74 minutes         1-2

We've battered them and we're 3-1 behind.  Lee shoots straight at keeper.  TRICKETT-SMITH REPLACED BY LEWIS SHORT.   1-3     82 minutes

Leek are now playing out time.   Corner Ilkeston in added time.  GOAL  Joe Wilson rocket          92 minutes    2-3

Decent game. Can’t agree we battered them - thought they created more than us although corner count in our favour

Header hitting bar at 1 2 was pivotal moment but then they missed a sitter straight afterwards

Alarming how easy their 3rd goal was. 13 minutes left and their right winger is allowed the free run of our half with no one anywhere near him. This keeps happening

A good start to the season. 13 from 21 and progress in FA Cup plus one trophy round

Enjoy the rest everyone and let’s start again in December

 Tuesday 3rd November 2020  :  Northern Premier League - South East Division
Ilkeston  Town  2  Leek Town  3
Three second half goals saw Leek come from behind in one of the best matches seen at the NMG for a long while and it took an amazing equaliser from Daniel Trickett-Smith to set them on their way. He saw Ross Durrant out of his goal and tried his luck from the half way line. Incredibly, his audacious effort was perfect causing the whole Leek team to celebrate wildly. Fortunes are changed by such moments and this proved to be the case.
Right from the start both teams showed attacking intent. A Trickett-Smith lob hit the top of Durrant’s crossbar before Ilkeston struck on ten minutes when Ollie Brown-Hill’s pass was hammered home by Alex Troke. Leek responded and Ilkeston were forced to defend but the nearest the visitors came to scoring was another Trickett-Smith effort which cleared the crossbar. Both teams were having periods on top. A Zak Goodson flick from a Joe Wison cross nearly made it 2-0 before Kieran Fenton rescued Ilkeston at the other end. A curling Brown-Hill cross was close to being turned in by Riece Bertram and then Dan Roberts brilliantly saved Brown-Hill’s volley.
Ilkeston started the second half strongly pinning Leek back but they were nearly punished when Will Saxon missed a great opportunity on the break. Trickett-Smith then produced his spectacular goal to level the game on 54 minutes. Ilkeston responded with fury and Goodson forced a brilliant save from Roberts before a header from Bertram rattled the bar. Ollie Brown-Hill was then tripped in the area for what looked like a certain penalty but incredibly the referee said no. To add insult to injury, Leek went up the other end and went ahead through Marc Grocott on 63 minutes. Ilkeston responded again and three successive corners saw Leek defending desperately but Leek were to extend their lead on 79 minutes through Tim Grice. Ilkeston kept plugging away but were rescued by Durrant following a Leek counter attack. On 90 minutes Ilkeston finally pulled one back with a Joe Wilson rocket through a crowded penalty area but Leek were able to see out the remaining minutes and take the points. 
 

Firstly, what a terrific game of football. I thought we played really well, a contender for our best performance of the season. And a game we were very unlucky to lose. We could easily have won the game on any other night. And if you can say those things when playing a very good Leek side, surely that’s grounds for optimism? Leek and Stamford are established, settled sides who’ve been together for a while now; we’re not, we’re the new kids on the block and it’s going to take time to build the squad we need.

We were really at it from the get-go last night, which made a nice change. We were the better team in the first half.

What we don’t have, and what we keep getting exposed by, are players that run at a defence with pace. Newcastle, Leek, and Stamford have those type of players, and we could do with one or two. Sometimes I do question the recruitment over the summer. Aren’t Watson and Reid similar type of players? Would Reid and a speedy winger have been a better option?

Zak seems to have lost his mojo at the moment, just a dip in form and maybe the break will benefit him. We rely too much on Zak and Alex Troke to score the goals.

I thought Fenton was terrific. He’s a cultured footballer, really good technical skills, but he ain’t the quickest (being kind there), and I guess that’s what has stopped him from playing at a higher level. Wilson had a really good game as well, that lad shows real promise. Not a Reece Bertram fan, but I have to admit he’s played well in the last couple of games.

We lose Reid and Watson and it exposes the strength (or lack of) in our squad. The outfield players on the bench last night were all kids. With the squad we have at the moment I think we’re a top-eight team, no more than that. We’ll struggle to get in the play-offs. If the owners are serious about challenging for promotion this season, we need another 2 or 3 quality footballers in. Time to spend the cash generated from the Cup runs.

Boris has promised that the lockdown will only be a month (and we can all believe Boris, can’t we? 😉) so hopefully we’ll be back in December, but who knows? Almost impossible to plan anything at the moment.

Stay safe people, and be kind to each other.