Bloody Judith away again

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Carruthers is ready for action to begin   Jul 1, 2022



Ilkeston Town boss Martin Carruthers says he’s looking forward to the challenge ahead of his side this season as the Robins prepare to get back in action on Saturday.
They host Carlton Town at noon at the Microlise New Manor Ground, just over a month before their debut in the Southern Premier League Central following their title win in the NPL Midlands last season. And although a return to training and action has come a little earlier than Carruthers might have hoped, he’s ready for what lies ahead.

He said: “We initially thought we’d be in the NPL which starts on August 13, so planned accordingly dates-wise, but the SPL starts a week earlier so we’re going into this game without much in the way of training behind us. “It’ll be very much a case of a different team in each half and getting the lads on the way to match sharpness and fitness, which they’re obviously all well short of at the moment.

“Some are only just getting back from holidays given they also planned for a later start to training, so we’ll go easy on them whilst at the same time utilising a match situation to our benefit as opposed to training.”

Carruthers did most – if not all – of his transfer business early in the summer break, with experienced players including striker Chris O’Grady, winger Jamie Ward and centre-half Ben Turner – all of whom have extensive Premier League and/or Championship experience –  being joined by defenders Marshall Willock, Kalern Thomas and Ben O’Hanlon, plus goalkeepers Tomasz Bukowski and Saul Deeney, the latter making his loan deal from Coalville permanent.

Carruthers said: “We’ve got about 19 in the squad now and I doubt there will be any more, although you can never rule anyone out if we find a diamond somewhere and there may be one or two trialists that we’ll have a look at.

“I’m happy we’ve strengthened our squad really well and think we’ll be a lot stronger in certain areas when it comes to depth and certainly when it comes to experience.

“We’ll of course have to manage the older players well, perhaps more so when it comes to the midweek games, but they’re experienced and fit professionals and I’d hope they’ll be able to give us at least 30-35 games all being well.”

By Mark Duffy


 

Alex wrote:

Cheers mate. For keeping kev judith cross upto date

Grrrrrrr
Sez he whos not here at least I am in the same country as the game .lol

It's almost kickoff time  ilkeston have named two sides presumably one for each half. 

This is the Ilkeston starting eleven:

                                                       Saul Deeney,

            Trialist             Marshall Willock,           Trialist,               Billy Bennett,

                       Trialist,                     Dan Bradley,               Charlie Wakefield,

                    Montel Gibson,          Remaye Campbell,           Jamie Ward.


We don't have details of the Carlton players


​Were off .....

 

Last edited by Matchman (02/7/2022 3:55 PM)

Remaye gets a shot in but its easily saved. Marshall Willock saves Ilkeston with a saving header out for a Carlton corner.Carlton looking dangerous.       0-1    16 mins

Dan Bradley is seeing plenty of the ball and looking strong.  Ward header from Montel's cross is inches wide.  Trialist No 2 looks decent.  Ilkeston are now on top but still behind            0-1        32 mins

Apologies - Having more Wifi problems
Its a different Ilkeston team out for the second half
We're 10 minutes into second half and its still 0-1

Ilkeston's second half team :

                                         Thomasz Bukowski,

Trialist,          Marshall Willock,                  Trialist,             Ben O'Hanlon,

           Jared Bird,                   Alex Troke,               Trialist,

       Zak Goodson,                  Chris O'Grady             Ollie Brown-Hill

 

Last edited by Matchman (02/7/2022 3:51 PM)

It's a much poorer second half from Ilkeston's point of view.  Troke shot blocked by defender. That's nearest to a goal this half.     0-1         68 mins

O'Hanlon is doing his best to get forward down the left. Real Ilkeston chance. O'Grady rolls the ball across the box but nobody there to finish.       0-2    79 mins

Full time  :   Ilkeston 0  Carlton  2

That was a really poor second half performance. For me only Ben O'Hanlon came out with any credit.
First half Ilkeston were the better side and unlucky to be behind. 
Clearly, It was the first time thy've played together so things can only improve. 



 

Last edited by Matchman (02/7/2022 12:52 PM)

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My personal view  

16 of our 19 players took part in the Carlton work out. Missing were Kieran Fenton, Jack Thomas and new signing Ben Turner. 

After only a few training sessions It’s too soon to make snap judgements but the second half team was disappointing and outplayed. 

Ilkeston played well enough in the first half and dominated most of the play. I was pleased with Dan Bradley’s contribution and I thought Jamie Ward and Montel Gibson looked full of confidence. In my opinion, trialists number 2 and 12 performed okay. Of the new players I thought Marshall Willock who played in each half looked a decent prospect.  

The second half team never got going and were given a lesson by the superior Carlton side. I thought Ben O’Hanlon gave a good account himself defending well and trying to get forward down the left. 


   

I'd agree with most of that John,  not the best start, first run-out of the season though so not the time to be critical. We were the better team in the first half (Ward, Bradley, Bennett, and Trialist 12 in midfield did well) without creating any real clearcut chances; created nothing in the second half. O'Hanlon did look like a good left-back -  I wonder if they'll try Billy Bennett in left midfield (didn't he play in left midfield in the first game at Stamford last season and score a couple of goals?)?

I just know that I'm going to enjoy watching Jamie Ward this season. Getting on a bit now for an outfield player, but his speed of thought, his first touch, his technique, are a joy to watch (bit gobby with it as well you have to say). The problem might be (and you saw the same with O'Grady who showed some nice touches in the second half) is that our other players don't have the same abilities and are often not on the same wavelength. Playing with better players will improve some players though, including Wakefield, Goodson, and Bennett hopefully.

I thought 456 was a heck of a good crowd for the opening preseason friendly.