Matchman wrote:

After a feeble February ( one win in six matches) can we return to winning ways against Prescot Cables? 

Cables have a poor away record. 30 of their 41 points have come from home matches.
Only Blyth and Basford have worse away records than Prescot.
Prescot away record is : P16, W3, D2, L11, F17, A30, Pts 11.

They have lost their last five away matches against Morpeth, Lancaster, Leek. Matlock and FC United.
Their last win on the road was way back on October 8th against Worksop. 

When the two teams met at Prescot earlier in the season, Prescot were winners by 3-1


 

lost their last FIVE away matches , well thats buggered it then for us ...
 

Having thrown away 5 points in the last two matches against Stockton and Blyth, we now look like falling short of our 70 points target to get us into the playoffs. We can recover our position if we win all 5 of our March fixtures. 

Sat 1 Mar.  H.  Prescot Cables
Tue 4 Mar.  A.  Gainsborough Trinity
Sat 15 Mar  H.  Lancaster City
Sat 22 Mar. A.  Stockton Town
Sat 29 Mar. H.  Warrington Rylands

Saturday's match against Prescot Cables is the least difficult match of the five so let's get the points from this one and hope other results go our way. 

 

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Ashton United vs Guiseley headlines latest round of fixtures | NPL preview | Saturday 1 March 

There are plenty of crucial points on the line at both ends of the table in the Northern Premier League this weekend, with a full round of fixtures to enjoy. The standout game of the weekend comes at Nethermoor, where fourth-placed Guiseley host Ashton United - the side a point and a place above them in the table. 

 Ashton have been one of the division's form sides in recent weeks, while a difficult five-game winless run has seen Guiseley lose ground on the teams around them. Both teams have a relatively comfortable cushion above those looking to break into the top five but know another three points would go a long way towards securing their play-off berth with less than 10 games remaining. 

Higher up the division, champions elect Macclesfield host a Matlock Town side fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table. The Gladiators enter the weekend one point above the drop zone but have picked up just 13 points on their travels all season. Against a Macclesfield side boasting 43 points from a possible 48 at the Leasing.com Stadium, it looks like being a daunting assignment for Ryan Cresswell and his players. 

Second-placed Worksop Town visit another of the sides currently on the fringes of the bottom four in Whitby Town.The Seasiders have collected just two league wins from eight attempts this calendar year and, with the bottom of the table more congested than ever, can ill-afford to come away from this weekend empty-handed. Worksop are one of the stronger away performers in the division, meanwhile, and could all-but-secure their top-five spot with a win. 

Elsewhere in the play-off fight, fifth down to eighth are all at home against sides currently in the bottom half. Stockton Town will look to fend off the chasing pack when they welcome Basford United to the Map Group UK Stadium. Saturday's hosts have won five of their last seven games and would love to extend that record against a Basford side four points from safety and with just 10 points to their name away from home this season. 

Below them, Ilkeston Town will try to stop their four-game winless run against Prescot Cables, who have been buoyed by successive 1-0 victories at home in the league. 

Warrington Rylands host Gainsborough Trinity, who have lost just one of their last seven matches and could climb into the top half with a win. 
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For Hebburn Town, their next opponents are Leek Town, who are four games without a win and two points above the relegation zone. Hebburn will seek a return to winning ways, having seen their play-off hopes takes a dent in midweek as they fell to a 2-0 home defeat to Hyde United.
 
Elsewhere, Morpeth Town visit second-bottom Mickleover, who have seen five of their seven league wins this season come at the Don Amott Arena. 

Fresh from their midweek victory, Hyde welcome Lancaster City to the Project Solar Stadium.With just two wins in nine, the Dolly Blues will be determined to avoid being dragged into a relegation fight, with just six points separating them and fourth-bottom Bamber Bridge, who host basement side Blyth Spartans. Victory could see the Brig could escape the bottom four at the expense of either Matlock, Leek or Whitby, depending on the outcome of the afternoon's other games. 

The final game of the round sees FC United of Manchester make the trip to Cumbria to face Workington. With Mark Beesley's Reds closer to the bottom four than the top five, despite a run of one defeat in seven in the league, it look like their season could be meandering towards a mid-table finish. 

Fixtures - Saturday 1 March 
Bamber Bridge vs Blyth Spartans
Guiseley vs Ashton United
Hebburn Town vs Leek Town
Hyde United vs Lancaster City
Ilkeston Town vs Prescot Cables
Macclesfield vs Matlock Town
Mickleover vs Morpeth Town
Stockton Town vs Basford United
Warrington Rylands vs Gainsborough Trinity
Whitby Town vs Worksop Town
Workington vs FC United of Manchester
 
 

Last edited by Matchman (28/2/2025 7:21 PM)

It's approaching kickoff time and it's bright sunshine at the NMG.
Brandy returns for the Robins.

The teams are out.   Ilkeston in red, Prescot in amber and black.

Ilkeston are attacking the car park end

we're off......


 

Last edited by Matchman (01/3/2025 2:00 PM)

Good play by Abdullah to create an opening for himself but Hare saves his effort on goal.  Free kick into the box is headed goalwards by Parker but Hare saves again.       0-0.   16 mins

Minkley booked.  Ilkeston free kick on edge of area. Shooting chance but Walker's shot clears the crossbar. 
 0-0.    31 mins

Ilkeston corner.    Walker header is wide from the corner. 

2 minutes added time  

half time. 0-0. 

Still a stalemate. Abdullah tries to get a shot on goal but its quickly blocked. Good play by Kirby-Moore takes him into the area before he's stopped by a defender.  Good break by Carberry at the other end        0-0.  56 mins

Free kick Ilkeston in good position. Kirby-Moore header saved by Hare.     50 /50... 179.  Att 565.
0-0.    65 mins

Speculative effort by Doyle is not far off.  Daniel yellow for something said.    GOAL AT LAST  and its Kirby-Moore     1-0.     77 mins

Dixon replaced by Meikle. and Brandy replaced by wauchope.   Ilkeston corner left.  Corner other side. 
 Parker connects but it's wide.       1-0.    88 mins

Walker inches wide after pinball in Prescot box.   Corner to Prescot.       1-0.   90 mins