WhiteBallProject / Sat : 22nd Feb '25 : Blyth Spartans v Ilkeston Town : ko 3pm

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 22/2/2025 4:31 PM

Walker shot deflected for a corner. Nothing from it. Briggs shot saved by Yates. another Ilkeston corner. Keeper has it. Stevens on now. 73 mins

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 22/2/2025 4:37 PM

Att 569
Dixon yellow for complaining. Wauchope is not good enough. 1=1. 79 mins

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 22/2/2025 4:42 PM

This is great chance free kick on edge of area. It hits the wall then Wafula fires across the face of goal . Another Ilkeston free kick, it's wasted. Running out of time now. 1-1. 85 mins

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 22/2/2025 4:48 PM

Yates rescues Ilkeston with a brilliant save. Good play Wauchope to find Wafula but he's given offside.
Great save by Bancroft at full stretch. Daniel shot deflected wide. 1-1. 89 mins

Last edited by Matchman (23/2/2025 4:18 AM)

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 22/2/2025 4:52 PM

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Wafula offside.

It's as draw. shameful result against the worst team in the league.

Last edited by Matchman (22/2/2025 4:53 PM)

**Posted by plymrob** 22/2/2025 5:10 PM

Shameful - an early reaction. Look back back to the last six games. And their recent form...
Ilson have lost their way. And, today, I chose not to join Alex's league because I was thinking defeat and going to preict a draw - but after last time there might be sonspiracy theories....

You all know I cannot bet on a defeat. So I was thinking 2-2, not great, I agree. But let's see. Deakin needs to up the motivation big time. I thought Ilson were home and dried for the play offs. I'm getting concerned now. What a waste of a season if not!... Come on guys!

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 22/2/2025 8:33 PM

i've never seen so many supporters so exasperated as today. Blyth were the weakest team we've played against. The ref did his best to help them givng them a really soft penalty but even so we should still have won with ease.

Last edited by Matchman (22/2/2025 8:34 PM)

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 22/2/2025 11:55 PM

plymrob wrote:
Shameful - an early reaction. Look back back to the last six games. And their recent form...
Ilson have lost their way. And, today, I chose not to join Alex's league because I was thinking defeat and going to preict a draw - but after last time there might be sonspiracy theories....

You all know I cannot bet on a defeat. So I was thinking 2-2, not great, I agree. But let's see. Deakin needs to up the motivation big time. I thought Ilson were home and dried for the play offs. I'm getting concerned now. What a waste of a season if not!... Come on guys!

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Yes it was an immediate reaction and I was so frustrated that we couldn't beat such an inferior side. That must be the worst Blyth Spartans team in 125 years. They were poor but they did gave it everything they'd got to hold us to a draw and got a standing ovation at full time for their achievement. The penalty was really soft but we didn't think it mattered at the time. We had a similar appeal at the other end and Abdullah got booked for a dive. The fact is we now have nobody to put the ball in the net. First half we were awful but in mitigation there was a swirling wind we were kicking into. Second half we were better but didn't take the chances that came our way.
One win in the last six matches means we're now very much outsiders for the playoffs.

Last edited by Matchman (24/2/2025 3:06 PM)

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 23/2/2025 9:05 AM

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Sat 22nd February 2025
Northern Premier League
Blyth Spartans 1 Ilkeston Town 1
Ilkeston’s quest for a playoff place took a further knock when they could only draw against bottom of the league Blyth Spartans. Blyth took the lead following a soft penalty decision in their favour. Jonathan Wafula equalised in the second half but the Robins couldn’t find the winner they desperately needed. What the Spartans team lacked in quality they made up for in desire.

McKeal Abdullah had the ball in the Blyth net from Sam Parker’s cross in the opening 5 minutes but the linesman's flag was raised. Abdullah had a great chance when found by Connor Dixon but he couldn’t get the ball past keeper Matthew Bancroft who had rushed out to block. On 22 minutes Blyth were awarded a penalty for a foul just inside the box. Nicky Deverdics converted it to give the hosts the lead. It could have got worse for Ilkeston on 30 minutes when JJ Hooper raced through on a counter attack but his attempt rolled agonisingly wide of the post. Just before half time,Ilkeston had a penalty shout when Abdullah went down in the area but the referee saw it as simulation.

Manager Ian Deakin showed his feelings on Ilkeston’s first half performance by making four changes for the second half. The team showed new desire straight away and Bancroft saved brilliantly with one hand from Jamie Walker on 52 minutes. The equaliser came 3 minutes later when Jonathan Wafula reacted quickest to a moment of indecision by Bancroft and scuffed the loose ball past him and into the net. The floodgates should have opened but it didn’t happen. Wafula was close to scoring again with a header which was just too high. Blyth then had a chance when Parker’s back pass to goalkeeper Matt Yates looked to be falling short but Yates raced out and cleared just in time. Ten minutes from time Ilkeston had a good chance from a free kick just outside the area but Walker’s effort hit the wall and fell to Wafula whose shot flew wide. The final ten minutes saw Blyth under intense pressure but they nearly stole a winner on 87 minutes when Joel Holvey was denied by a brilliant reaction save by Yates. There was then a chance for Ilkeston to win it but Bancroft was there to deny Walker and the game ended in despair for Ilkeston and jubilation for Blyth.

**Posted by WhiteBallProject** 23/2/2025 10:46 AM

This was only the second Ilkeston game I have seen in two years so I was just pleased to have made a short journey down the A1 to Croft Park to watch my team.
in the early stages of the game Ilkeston looked what they which is a team far superior to Blyth who have had an awful season but are just happy to be still existing. Ilkeston completely dominates possession and Blyth rarely ventured into the Ilkeston half. Ilkeston missed a few good chances and paid the price when Blyth won a soft penalty on a rare excursion into the box. Ilkeston then became ragged as Blyth gained in confidence. The team seemed dismayed that they were losing. Deaks made four substitutions at the break and the Robins looked a much more dynamic team in the second half. The one goal they got did not reflect their dominance and despite the much improved effort in the second half they did not get the break they were looking for. Personally I think the team lacked the confidence to do the things they must have been doing all season. The team probably need the help of Lady Luck to re kickstart their season but whether they are good enough to go up is open to debate. The bigger question might be is the club as a whole ready for promotion!

**Posted by Matchman** **Online!** 23/2/2025 7:37 PM

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JS sat next to me in the stand and his above version of the game is probably nearer the truth than mine. I was so frustrated that I let my disappointment affect my reporting. Apologies for that. I didn't want to talk to anyone on the bus back. Now that I've calmed down I realise that If we were to miss out on the playoffs it's still been a good season to be in the top half of the table. Deaks has done a brilliant job for us and the players never stop trying in every match. Against Blyth the players did their very best but we just didn't get any luck. Sometimes it's like that and when it's not your day then there's nothing you can do. Watching football there are always ups and downs and that's just the way it is. Yesterday I unfairly criticised the Blyth team and one of our own players who was doing his best. That was wrong and I apologise unreservedly.

**Posted by WhiteBallProject** 24/2/2025 2:14 PM

I don’t think you need to apologise about anything. I could see how frustrating it must to watch Ilkeston play such a poor side and fail to make their superiority tell. I have since watched the video highlights and it does show that some of the Ilkeston was very poor indeed or at least sloppy by their usual standards. There is nothing wrong with being passionate about your football club. When I lived in Ilkeston I could be in a mood for weeks after a poor result. Overall the weekend was not great for me. Ilkeston drew against the bottom club. Alnwick let slip an early lead and lost to a team near the bottom. Forest went 1-0 up big cheer and then were 4-1 within ten minutes. My fourth club Liverpool and particularly Mo Salah cheered me up by the evening by whipping Manchester City! So three downs and one up!