Ilkeston Line up:-

1. Turner

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

7. Hindley 6. Walshe 8. Johnson 11. Smith

9. Jenkins 10. Copnell

Subs

14 . Jemson for Copnell 43mins

12. Lucas for Chettle 67mins

15. Adam for Hindley 69mins

Yellow Cards  None

Red Cards None

Debutants None

Chettle challenges	Walshe takes control	Copnell heads for goal

Ilkeston Town recalled Justin Jenkins (pictured left) for the visit of local rivals Eastwood Town and relegated Nigel Jemson to the bench. The Bagders included in their line up ex Robins James Whitehead and Chris Shaw. A crowd of  710 lapped up the sunshine which was more akin to cricket than football. In the early stages of the games some fans must have wished they had been watching cricket instead as neither side could create any clear cut chances. Those that were created fell to Ilkeston and after 14 minutes Justin Jenkins should have done better when unsettled Danny Bryant in the Eastwood goal but ballooned his shot over the bar from eight yards out. Five minutes Jenkins did better with a header from a Stuart Copnell cross but this time Bryant was on his toes and made a good save. 

After the break the game livened up with Craig Swinscoe coming close with a looping header which just cleared the bar. Then the visitors starting to put the home defence under pressure and after 52 minutes Millns came close with a strong header and a minute later Nazha shot into the side netting. Ilkeston also started to show more adventure and Nigel Jemson came close with a good header from a David Jervis cross. Shortly after wards Knox broke clear on the left and put the ball across the face of the goal only to see the Ilkeston rearguard scramble the ball away.

Eastwood had just started to dominate a game which was littered with niggling fouls and stoppages when manager Phil Stant replaced Ryan Hindley with Chris Adam. Three minutes Adam had repeated his feat against Clitheroe although on this occasion he scored with his second touch of the ball rather than his first. Darren Knowles sent in a deep cross that fell to Nigel Jemson whose shot was saved by Bryant. The rebound fell to Chris Adam who scored from the narrowest of angles to put the Robins one up. 

The home support were then expecting an attacking onslaught from Eastwood but despite bringing three attackers on as substitute the visitors had to make do with two efforts from Meikle and Nestor. In fact Ilkeston started to look the stronger in the final minutes as Eastwood started to wilt in the scorching heat.

WhiteBallProject Man of the Match - Craig Swinscoe -  Excellent at the back for the whole ninety minutes and narrowly pipped Steve Chettle who was again outstanding.

Ilkeston Town again ground out a narrow victory despite not looking at their best. To many observers Eastwood Town were a bit disappointing as they had achieved some impressive results pre season and had beaten AFC Telford last Tuesday. 

Manager Phil Stant has still not settled on his attacking line up and Justin Jenkins and Stuart Copnell both looked busy up front without producing too much in the way of a final product.  In midfield Liam Walshe and Paul Smith yet again played well and at the back Craig Swinscoe (pictured left) and Steve Chettle were impressive and David Jervis had his best game of the season.

It’s good that Ilkeston are winning but it seems only a matter of time before they really take a team apart. Perhaps the next two games away at Alvechurch and home to struggling Rocester may give the Robins more chance to win with greater style. At the moment we are third in the table, getting crowds of 710 and things in the garden are looking rosy.

Jenkins comes close	Copnell on the move	Jenkins is fouled!!