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Ilkeston Line up:-
If supporters of Ilkeston Town
Football Club thought that the days of despair and heavy home defeats
were behind them a rampant Redditch United bought a dose of Dr Martens
League Western Division reality to bear on the 379 fans who
attended this opening fixture of the season. Ilkeston Town started the game with
six players making their debuts. One of those debutants Danny Holyoak
was surprisingly named as captain. In typical opening season sunshine
the visitors made the first chance with Quinton Townsend heading against
the bar. After 14 minutes Richard Burgess came close for Redditch with a
rasping shot just over the bar. Andy Love had to make a fine save
after 21 minutes but the complexion of the game changed dramatically on
24 minutes when Assistant Manager Carl Heggs needlessly elbowed
Matthew Hall. Referee Adcock had no hesitation in showing Heggs
the red card. Within five minutes Redditch took the
lead when Richard Leadbeater beat Ilkeston's flimsy of side rrap and
lobbed keeper Andy Love. The Robins then looked to have steadied
the boat when on the stroke of half time they went 2-0 down. Substitute
Lee Ross score with a well placed header from a corner. Manager Charlie Bishop
replaced defender Joe Atkinson with midfielder Kristian
Stephens but Redditch continued to dominate proceedings. After 56
minutes the visitors extended their lead when Martin Myers pounced when
the Robins defence dithered and expertly
dispatched the third goal. Four minutes later Ilkeston again failed to
clear their lines effectively and Myers scored his second of the game.
Redditch inflicted greater misery on the Robins only two minutes later
when keeper Andy Love fumbled a cross and James Quiggan scored
with a simple tap in. Ilkeston bought on Chris Thompson for the
struggling Steve Coates to try and get back into the game. On 65minutes Thompson headed
wide from a good position and five minutes later he missed another good
chance when he broke clear and attempted to chip the keeper but only managed
to deposit the ball neatly into Richard Anstiss' hands. Ilkeston then bought on Craig
Swinscoe to replace Micheal Sisson and the Robins finally
started to put the Redditch defence under pressure. The Reds Gary Knight
had to head over his own bar and Mark Nangle had a header well
saved by Anstiss. On 82 minutes Andy Love made a
fine near post save to prevent Ilkeston going further behind. At the
other end substitute Craig Swinscoe came close after good work by
Thompson. Then with five minutes remaining Mark Nangle presented
Chris Thompson with an excellent chance to open Ilkeston's
account but he shot tamely wide from an excellent position. The final action of the game was left for Martin Myers who ghosted into the Ilkeston penalty area unmarked and easily scored to complete a well deserved hat trick.
WhiteBallProject Man of the Match Mark Nangle Worked hard on his own upfront for most of the game. Not too mobile but provided Ilkeston's best moments.
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