Ilkeston Line up:-

1. Turner

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

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

9. Freestone 10. Copnell

Subs

14 . Lucas for Jervis 38 mins

12. Jenkins for Freestone 61 mins

15. Riley for Davies 69 mins

Yellow Cards  Smith 53 mins (late tackle)

Red Cards None

Debutants None

Hindley in flight	Shepshed clear	The prodigal gets stuck in

Ilkeston Town will play few matches on a Saturday afternoon where they are one up before 3.00pm and 2-0 up by five past. However referee Mr Grundy kicked off at 2.55 pm much to the chagrin of those Ilkeston fans who like to arrive spot on 3.00pm. The team obviously liked the early kick off as they tore into the Shepshed side.

Manager Phil Stant shuffled his pack by bringing in Mark Clifford (pictured left) to replace the injured Liam Walshe, Craig Swinscoe recovered from flu to replace Mark Lever at centre back and finally Chris Freestone (pictured left) returned from Ossett Town to oust Justin Jenkins from the starting line up. 

Shepshed included several Ilkeston based in their line up but were put on the back foot after only three minutes when Chris Freestone got free on the right and played an inch perfect low cross  for Ryan Hindley to side foot the ball home. Five minutes later it got worse when Mark Clifford shot was parried by the keeper and fell to Stuart Copnell who gratefully smacked home his first goal for Ilkeston Town.

Shepshed took some to settle but started to play some neat passing football but were unable to trouble the Ilkeston defence. The game started to become a bit scrappy after the bright start due to the driving rain which was making the pitch increasingly slippy and on 38 minutes David Jervis picked up a nasty injury and was replaced by Richard Lucas.

After the interval Ryan Hindley scored his second goal when he latched on to a Mark Clifford long throw on the far post . He control the ball swivelled and thumped the ball into the roof of the net to put the Robins 3-0 up. Shepshed were finding the pace of Stuart Copnell a real handful and he nearly put through Chris Freestone after some excellent work on the right but the pair were foiled by an offside flag. The visitors captain Michael Savage finally went one foul too many when he was again beaten for pace by Copnell who he pulled when the Ilkeston striker was clear on goal. The referee had no option but to show savage red card. 

However as usually happens Shepshed started to show a bit more spirit when reduced to ten men and on 65 minutes they had their first shot on target when Steve Gomm forced Ross Turner into a mart save. Nine minutes Chris Henson had a good header again well saved by Turner. Ilkeston however were still in control of the game and should have gone further when Hindley fed Justin Jenkins who just failed to get in a shot in front of goal.

As the rain again started to pour the players thoughts appeared to drift towards to what rides they would go on at the fair and the game petered out without further incident.

WhiteBallProject Man of the Match - Ryan Hindley (pictured below) -  Excellent display of forceful wing play and two goals for Ilkeston top scorer.

Ilkeston Town got back to winning ways against a Shepshed side who tried to play football despite finding it very difficult to get a shot in on target. The Robins got off to a flying start and the difference it made to the confidence was evident for all to see.

There were some very good performances apart from Ryan Hindley who deservedly won the Sheriff's badge. Stuart Copnell got that important first goal for the ball and looked hungry for the rest of the game. He was a constant thorn in the side of Shepshed with his strong running and eventually they lost their captain when he could cope no longer. Chris Freestone had a good first half and made the opening goal. Mark Clifford helped make the second goal and had a very effective fourth debut for the club. He seems to have matured as a player and should be quite an asset. Craig Swinscoe and Paul Smith had their usual sound games and Steve Chettle was once again almost perfection at the back.

If their were any worries for Ilkeston they were Justin Jenkins inability to get that lucky break and kick start his season and Ross Turner's wayward kicking. He managed to kick for touch more times than Johnny Wilkinson.

The win puts Ilkeston into second place one point behind North Ferriby but importantly Ilkeston have three games in hand. On Tuesday night the Robins visit Spalding in the league Cup which may give a chance to some of the promising reserves to show what they can do.

Hindley down the wing	Keeper gathers	Copnell pushed and pulled