Ilkeston are doing well apart from creating opportunities. Nothing is quite coming off.  Great play between Fox and Kirby-Moore but Kirby-Moore is flagged offside.      0-0.    38 mins

Last edited by Matchman (15/11/2025 10:52 PM)

We're off again ...

good Ilkeston move breaks down.  Roberts saves Weston's tight angled shot at the other end.  
Marshall(injured) replaced by Daniel.     0-0.   53 mins

Last edited by Matchman (15/11/2025 10:58 PM)

Right against the run of play and Roberts didn't really need to commit the foul as the ball was well wide of the goal. 

Last edited by Matchman (15/11/2025 11:10 PM)

Curzon corner.    Walker replaced by Brandy.    0-1.   72 mins

Kirby-Moore dragged down but the free kick is cleared. Ilkeston are chasing the game now.    
Ession replaced by Stevens.   0-1.    80 mins

Last edited by Matchman (15/11/2025 4:40 PM)

It seems like Curzon are getting all the decisions . But we're still looking for the leveller.      0-1.    86 mins

Another Brandy shot saved by Hawkins.  Ilkeston corner Can we do it?

.
Sat 15th November 2025
FA Trophy 2nd round
Ilkeston Town 0  Curzon Ashton 1
A rash decision by goalkeeper Alfie Roberts ultimately enabled Curzon to win a close fought FA Trophy tie. The scoreline may look like one to be expected but it was Ilkeston who saw most of the ball and more than matched their higher placed opponents. L’Varn Brandy rattled the Curzon crossbar in a rousing finish but Alex Curran’s penalty decided the outcome. 

Ilkeston started strongly with plenty of possession but were unable to create real chances. Curzon by contrast were quick on the counter attack. They should have gone ahead when Tony Weston managed to get past Roberts but with the goal at his mercy he put the ball wide of the far post. Ilkeston’s opportunities were harder to come by.  A Jamie Walker header was wide and a good move involving Robbie Fox and Harvey Kirby-Moore looked promising until an offside flag ended it. Just before half time a Matt Thornhill free kick was headed over by Sam Parker and a shot on the turn by Fox was also too high as the first half ended goalless.  

The first effort after the restart was by Weston from a tightish angle which Roberts was able to block. There followed a sustained period of Ilkeston attacking which ended with a Curzon counter attack, a long ball forward saw Roberts race out to clear but In doing so he took out Curzon forward Bradley Holmes just inside the right side of the penalty area. The referee pointed to the spot and Curran converted to put Curzon ahead on 57 minutes. Weston nearly made it two with a shot across the face of goal before Ilkeston saw efforts by Walker and Thornhill blocked in quick succession. Ten minutes from time Ilkeston felt hard done by when Parker saw red for an innocuous looking infringement. It was nearly a double blow when the ensuing free fee kick shook the Ilkeston goal frame. Ilkeston kept going though and Curzon were forced to defend their lead in the closing minutes. Brandy was so close to taking the game to penalties when his powerful effort hit the bar. 


 

Last edited by Matchman (16/11/2025 8:56 AM)

I said before that if we were still in the game with twenty minutes to go we were in with a chance. That prediction seemed to be going well in a game with very few attempts on goal. However after Alfie Robert’s rush of blood gifted Curzon the lead we were always up against it. I thought Curzon were the better side and missed an open goal in the first half after a defensive blunder. At that point I thought it was going to be our day. For the last thirty minutes we resorted to the long ball tactic which for the most part resulted in aimless balls launched towards the Curzon goal. We could however even have forced a draw when L Varn  Brandy’s shot scraped the bar. I thought in the end it was a fair result as Curzon played more football than us. We looked OK when we passed the ball around without looking dangerous but we only looked like getting something when we went route one. I have not seen much of Ilkeston this season but I can see why some fans say although we sometimes get result it is not pretty to watch. Yesterday I felt that the team who made the first mistake were likely to lose and unfortunately that was us when we conceded the unnecessary spot kick.

I watched them against Morpeth and Ilkeston looked good but Morpeth were poor and have continued in that vein since. I then saw them play Cleethorpes and to be honest they were awful. The next game was against Warrington and I think the verdict on the performance was influenced possibly too much by the miraculous comeback. I felt yesterday we were in danger of being outplayed football wise. We gave the ball away too many times so we could not  create chances but they worked hard and stopped Curzon taking control. I think our style of play is muscular and for me relies too much on the long ball. If we could mix it up a bit more by keeping it on thr floor and playing through teams we might get more success against the better teams.
In the end the biggest worry for the club is not so much the team but the lack of support at home games. I don’t know what else the club can do to entice the fans through the turnstiles!