Unbelievable mickleover are hanging on . Ilkeston so close as keeper makes a fantastic save following frantic efforts  to force the ball over the line.

Last edited by Matchman (30/8/2022 12:32 AM)

Into stoppage time .

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Bank Holiday Monday 29th Aug 2022
Southern League Premier Central 
Ilkeston Town  2  Mickleover  3
Ilkeston were outplayed by Mickleover for the majority of the game and goals by two former players put the visitors in a commanding position. Only in the last quarter did the Robins come into the game but after pulling two goals back Mickleover were forced to hang on in the final minutes.
Mickleover totally dominated the first half and former Ilkeston favourite Elliott Reeves struck two fine goals on 21 minutes and 43 minutes. In between Mickleover created several more openings and a 2-0 half time lead was the least they deserved.
The Ilkeston players were sent out early for the second half but Mickleover added a third goal through Reece Dolan just after the hour mark. Ilkeston got one back through Marshall Willock on 74 minutes and when Montel Gibson hit a screamer into the top corner with eight minutes left an improbable comeback looked possible, Ilkeston came close to an equaliser in the final moments but Mickleover keeper Jonathan Hodge denied them with a super save.



That was a really worrying performance because we were awful for three quarters of the game. Finally we woke up and almost snatched a point but the truth is that we were poor and we now occupy a relegation position.


 

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The owners have stumped up a lot of money assembling this team in the hope of making another promotion challenge. Something is not right as we’re still without a win and we were unacceptably poor against Mickleover. Dave is very hands on and not one to let things drift so I expect some action  

I’ve been saying the results will come but Saturday’s performance was really disappointing. People have been asking why Martin Carruthers has made so many changes but in fairness most of them have been due to injuries or suspension. Jamie Ward told us he is likely to be out for 4 weeks with his injury. Are our older players more likely to pick up injuries?  

So what’s the answer? Should Martin Carruthers be blamed for the poor performances or do the  players have to accept responsibility.  

 

I think the thing that worried most fans on Saturday was how dominant Mickleover were in the first half. We had one attempt on goal and that was in the first minute. Mickleover grew in confidence and out played us all over the pitch. We looked slow at the back and unable to cover each other to counter the clever through balls and movement. I even thought that heads were starting to go down well before the break. However after the break we looked to have more purpose and had our second attempt on goal was after 54 minutes. After the substitutions we started to get on top and the two goals put us with a chance of getting an undeserved point. 
Martin will need the players to show some leadership and fight on the pitch if we are to lift ourselves out of the ditch. Our players are good enough but they just need to rediscover their self belief.
The game away at Matlock comes at a good time. Ilkeston will be underdogs and Matlock will know that they will be hurting after saturdays performance.
On a positive note I thought that Errat Thompson played well and when Montel Gibson decided to try and turn our fortunes around single handedly he looked like the match winning monster he is. A lot of fans thought we lacked width which is true but in the first half we lacked forward momentum right across the park.
On a second note the Mickleover officials Don Amott, Tony Shaw etc were wonderful and very gentle at half time as we tried to discuss the game. They did not gloat once! Thank you Mickleover! We were hurting!

Last edited by WhiteBallProject (30/8/2022 10:03 AM)