Ilkeston Line up:-

1. Turner

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

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

10. Jenkins 9. Copnell

Subs

12. Riley for Davies 60 mins

14. Brewer for Lever 71mins

15. Lucas for Walshe 81mins

Yellow Cards Lever 65 mins Foul

Red Cards None

Debuts Riley and Brewer

Hindley shoots	Gresley clear	Hindley in the thick of it

Manager Phil Stant started the game without Craig Swinscoe who was ill and Nigel Jemson who had been dropped from the squad shortly before kick off. Allan Davies made his home debut and new signing Paul Riley bagged a spot on the bench. Ilkeston's other potential new signing Mark Clifford was a spectater due to an hamstring tweak.

Ilkeston were looking to avenge a 0-3 drubbing handed out by Gresley in the FA Cup and in the opening minutes they nearly took the lead when Justin Jenkins (pictured left) got the better of ex Robin Gavin Saxby but his shot went tamely wide. The Moatmen were also intent on robbing the Robins of their unbeaten run in the league and on 10 minutes Ross Turner had to make two excellent saves in quick succession to keep the scores level. 

Ilkeston started to get the upper hand and after 25 minutes Justin Jenkins came close with a header after a clever chip by Liam Walshe. Two minutes later Stuart Copnell had a curling brilliantly saves by Gavin Saxby. Copnell's pace was causing the Gresley defence some problems and on 37 minutes he was bought down just outside the area when he was in full flow and from the resulting free kick Ryan Hindley forced another excellent save from Saxby.

It was however Gresley who opened the scoring when ex Robin Aaron O'Connor had a vicious drive saved by Ross Turner unfortunately for Turner the ball fell invitingly for Ashley Dodds to force the ball home.

After the interval Gresley should have gone 2-0 up when Emeka Ejiofor header over from close range. Aaron O'Connor as causing Ilkeston all kinds of problems and on 56 minutes he came close with a curled shot come cross that just cleared the bar and barely a minute later he shot neatly on the turn to force a good save from Turner. 

On the hour Paul Riley came off the bench to make his debut on the left wing with Ryan Hindley reverting to the right. This was the signal for a spell of pressure from Ilkeston prompted mainly by Hindley's trickery and crosses from the right. He first provided a cross which just evaded the head of Justin Jenkins and then he fed Liam Walshe who ballooned his shot over from 18 yards out. Then Stuart Copnell went on an excellent  surging run through the heart of the Gresley defence only to be thwarted by the legs of Saxby.

Gresley refused to buckle and almost scored themselves when Gary White hit a free klck from almost forty yards out and Turner could only just turn the ball round the post. On 68 minutes they came close again in even more bizarre circumstances when O'Connor got clear and his shot hit the post with the ball rebounding to Liam Hebbard whose shot then hit the other post. The ball then fell again to O'Connor who looked likely but to Ilkeston's relief the linesman judged him to be off-side. 

Ilkeston continued to push forward and Liam Walshe had shot that just flashed wide after 72 mins. O'Connor had time to have a header well saved by Turner before Saxby made another stunning save this time from  David Jervis. As the game drew to a close Hindley had a good chance and tempers began to fray. Gresley indulged in the obligatory time wasting and Manager Phil Stant became involved in an incident with Gresley's Karl Brown. However Gresley took the points and their fans and officials celebrated like they had just won the FA Cup. Perhaps we would have done the same if we had just beaten the unbeaten league leaders.

WhiteBallProject Man of the Match - Ryan Hindley - (pictured below) A constant creative threat for Ilkeston and just pipped Steve Chettle who again was outstanding. The best player on the pitch was however the ex Robin Aaron O'Connor. Lets hope he can stay focused and do himself justice this time.

Post Mortem

 

Ilkeston Town have now gone three games without a win and have been knocked off the top of the table by North Ferriby United. It should be a time for depression but I would say not. 

 

Firstly the last three games have been against the best three teams we have played this season and secondly North Ferriby have played two more games than us. Finally despite the problems before the game with Nigel Jemson and the late withdrawl of Craig Swinscoe Ilkeston turned in one of their best performances of the season. It was a very exciting match and end to end stuff and if it had not have been for the two keepers there would have been a lot more goals. Gavin Saxby had a loan spell at Ilkeston last season and looked very nervous but today he made some miraculous saves. Aaron O'Connor could have had a hat trick on his own it was that sort of game spoilt only by a bit of unpleasantness at the end. 

 

Radio Derby's reporter Dan Ranby a Gresley fan I presume gave a display of orgasmic display of delight on the airwaves as he described the Gresley's victory as 'winning the three points and the bragging rights'. He ought to get out more really.

 

Manager Phil Stant will want to get the events of today behind him as quickly as possible so that he can concentrate on the Wednesday game away at Ossett Albion. There will be some interesting team selection posers to be answered and more importantly there will be three important points which need to be won.

 

Lever and Chettle defend	Jenkins challenges	Smith shoots for goal