Ilkeston Line up:-

1. Turner

2. Knowles 4. Lever 5. Chettle 3. Jervis

7. Smith P 8. Johnson 6. Lucas 11. Eshelby

9. Freestone 10. Thompson

Subs

12. Swinscoe for Lever 60 mins

14. Hather for Lucas 78 mins

Subs not used 13. Liburd, 15. Palma and 16 Spencer

Thommo is floored	Freestone converts the free kick	Celebration!!!

Ilkeston Town made the short trip to Nationwide Conference North neighbours Alfreton Town without the unavailable Liam Walshe and Stuart Copnell and Ryan Hindley who is on holiday in Cuba.

Depsite this Ilkeston started strongly and Mark Lever came close to opening the scoring in the first few minutes with a strong header which went just over the bar. Chris Thompson was proving to be an handful for the Alfreton defence and the Robins took the lead after Thompson was fouled on the edge of the box in the twelfth minute. From the resulting free kick Chris Freestone (pictured left) headed past the hesitant Gavin Saxby in the home sides goal.

Alfreton were however soon back in the game when when ex Robin John Knapper surged down the left and fed Mick Goddard who shot low past Ross Turner in to the right corner of the goal after 18 minutes. Three minutes Goddard got free again and cleverly chipped Ross Turner to put Alfreton 2-1 up.

The goals kept flowing and Ilkeston were back on level terms after Paul Eshelby (pictured below) picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area and shot home via the foot of the post after 25 minutes. Alfreton regained their lead and completed the scoring on 31 minutes when Ilkeston failed to clear a corner which was headed home at the far post by Duffield.

The goal proved to be the last decisive action of the game and in the second half there few goal chances and the game drifted into a typical pre season kick about punctuated by some erratic refereeing which threatened to spoil what had been a keen but fairly contested encounter.

WhiteBallProject Man of the Match - Chris Thompson – Again caused major problem for defenders with his strong running and never say die spirit.

This was another creditable performance despite the scoreline. Alfreton Town look to be a very strong side, they pass the ball well and look sharp up front but like the Derbyshire Senior Cup tie last year they did not seem to be able to convert their superiority into clear cut chances and eventually they appeared to run out of ideas. Their game plan seemed to be to practice passing the ball along the back four and then with Mitch Ward pulling the strings play it through the middle. Ilkeston basically just stood off and got players behind the ball and defended the space in front the back four. The returning Mark Lever looked a bit rusty and with his partner Steve Chettle they lacked pace against the livewire Mick Goddard. Therefore the defence looked a bit brittle for all three of Alfreton's goals. Richard Lucas and Steve Johnson marshalled the midfield well and Chris Thompson worked hard up front.

Alfreton are however two divisions above Ilkeston but that gap was not in evidence at the Impact Arena.

Finally like a fair few fans at Alfreton I was impressed by the work on their ground but I was surprised by the lack of Alfreton support at the game. This may have due to the £6 admission charge and the £2 cost of the programme. It would be a real shame if the directors there built a great ground and a strong squad only for no one to to go and watch the games. On a brighter note I notice they had a certain Andy Kiwomya playing for them against Staveley MW.

 

Hidden Eshelby scores!	Thommo attacks	The Ref was very confused here!