Spalding team :
1 Alex Smith 2 Owen Betts, 3 James Hugo, 4 Gianluca Bucci, 5 Ben Greenwood, 6 Jan Yeamans, 7 Kevin Bastos, 8 Kegan Everington, 9 Jack Smith, 10 Lewis Browmhill, 11 Elliott Burrell.
12 Ben Richards, 14 Josh Spencer, 15 Devante Rettie, 16 Elliott Ramadan, 17 Michael Duggan.

Ilkeston team
1 Ross Durrant, 2 Fabian Smith, 3Kieran Fenton, 4 Jermain Hollis, 5 Chris Robertson, 6 Tom Marshall, 7 Reece Fyfe, 8 Fernando Bell-Toxtle, 9 Kieran Wells, 10 Alex Marshall, 11 Kole Lambert.
Subs : 12 Jamie Walker, 14 Richard Stainsby, 15 Dean Freeman, 16 Billy Bennett, 17 Daniel Mallarky

Last edited by Matchman (11/1/2020 1:43 PM)

Spalding are in all yellow. Ilkeston are in all red.  The teams are out and we're off.

Great break by Wells who tries to lob the keeper but keeper does well to touch it over the bar. It's all Ilkeaton in first ten minutes.    0-0

This sounds like cleethorpes all over again

Ilkeston continue to dominate but we need to score. Hollis header easily collected by Keeper.       0-0      29 minutes

Surprise surprise always against Ilkeston

Incredible we're behind. So what can we do in the second half. We desperately need a lucky break.

Second half is underway .....

How many from ilson

Lambert replaced by Walker on 64 minutes.  Walker volleys over after good play by Bell-Toxtle and Smith. Spalding's Yeomans  gets yellow. Bastos races away but can't take the chance.        0-1    70 minutes

Great save by Keeper from Fabian Smith header. Bell-Toxtle overhead effort is saved. Durrant saves Brownhill effort as Spalding counter. Alex replaced by Mallarkey.    84 minutes

Last edited by Matchman (12/1/2020 11:20 AM)

4 added minutes

thought we were by far the better team but come away with nothing . Not a great game but that was understandable because of the conditions . A great following from the ilson faithful yet again . 

Sat 11 January 2020
Northern Premier League, South East Division
Spalding United  1  Ilkeston Town  0
Despite dominating the match, Ilkeston suffered another defeat on a difficult bumpy pitch at Spalding. Manager Martin Carruthers refused to criticise the players who he felt gave everything. The Robins had no luck and not for the first time they lost to a fluke goal. Spalding manager, Lewis Thorogood admitted after the game, the pitch and the wind were a leveller. 
A Kieran Fenton header was only just wide on four minutes and six minutes later Kieran Wells burst through only to be thwarted by a fine save by Alex Smith who tipped over his lob. Ilkeston were piling up the corners and from one of them a Spalding defender had to clear off the line. Alex Marshall then found the net but the offside flag was raised. On 35 minutes Spalding were given a debatable free kick on the edge of the area. Glanluca Bucci took the kick and it took a massive defection which diverted it past the stranded Ross Durrant. It was Spalding’s first shot on target and they held on to the lead until half time.
After the break, Spalding were much better but Ilkeston still held the upper hand. A Wells header was just wide following good play by Alex Marshall then Bucci missed a big chance at the other end. On 62 minutes, a Kole Lambert shot was deflected for a corner. Shortly after that, ex-Ilkeston player, Kevin Bastos, raced though on a counter attack but couldn’t provide the finish. Jamie Walker volleyed over after great interplay between Fernando Bell-Toxtle and Fabian Smith. A couple of half chances fell to Walker before Bastos had another chance for Spalding. Tulips keeper Alex Smith then saved brilliantly from a Fabian Smith header. Bell-Toxtle tried a spectacular overhead kick but couldn’t get enough on it. In the closing stages as Ilkeston pushed forward, Lewis Brownhill had a chance to settle the outcome but Durrant saved well. Spalding saw out the added time and Ilkeston were left contemplating an undeserved defeat. 

Last edited by Matchman (13/1/2020 7:45 AM)

On the Ilkeston Town Supporters Community facebook page, a supporter questioned whether Martin Carruthers was up to the job and quoted his record of 1 win, 1 draw and 6 defeats. Let’s not forget, Carruthers had a very successful record in his time at Basford and Quorn. He’s only been with Ilkeston a short time and needs a bit of time to turn things round. He’s an experienced manager and can be seen to go about his work in a professional manner. 

On the team bus to Spalding he spoke individually with each player and also spoke to them in groups, ie defenders, midfielders and forwards. I couldn’t hear what was said but he was obviously giving them instructions, telling them what he expected from them and trying to boost their confidence. 

As other people have said , when you’re doing well you get the breaks and when you’re struggling everything goes against you.  

The pitch at Spalding was not good and the wind made it even more difficult. One big plus for me was Fernando Bell-Toxtle on his return from St Neots. He’s a creative player like Reco and I thought he did really well. Fabian Smith also had a good game and in my opinion doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.  

The Club showed on Saturday how much they value and appreciate the supporters.
The team bus to Spalding set off before the Supporters bus but after being told there were some supporters who couldn't get on the Supporters bus because it was full, the team bus returned to the ground to pick them up.


 

Last edited by Matchman (13/1/2020 3:55 PM)