Ilkeston Line up:-

Ilkeston Town travelled to lowly Bedworth United to face a team managed by ex Robin Mark Hallam with a team depleted by injuries and late withdrawls. Manager Phil Stant gave debuts to Chris Glarvey and Jamie Ironside and restored Paul Eshelby and Aaron O'Connor to the starting line up.

Ilkeston started brightly and were unlucky not to go in front after four minutes when Michael Lyons was spilled by the keeper and Phil Stant netted from the rebound. Amazingly the referee disallowed the goal much to the Robins disgust. Bedworth themselves had a good chance but Kirk Smith shot wide but Ilkeston recovered and after 19 minutes they took the lead when Aaron O'Connor ran on to a loose ball to hammer the ball past the hapless Hateley. 

Ilkeston failed to build on their lead and they allowed the home side back into the game resulting in an equaliser on 30 minutes when Daniel Holyoak was adjudged to have pushed Hadland in the area. Storer made no mistake with the resulting penalty kick.

Ilkeston started the second half brightly as they did the first but the spark soon faded and Bedworth started to dominate what was turning into a dire game played by two poor sides. The inevitable winner came on 86 minutes when Hadland header a deserved winner for a jubilant Bedworth team.

WhiteBallProject Man of the Match - Aaron O'Connor - A rare ray of light in a very poor showing from the Robins.

This was probably the worst performance by an Ilkeston side since Phil Stant took over. Ravaged by injuries the manager is struggling to field a settled side but despite the Robins looked a very poor side against a team who have been struggling badly of late.

Dream of a championship or even a top seven finish look remote and it may be a case of building for the future and settling for avoiding relegation.