Ilkeston Line up:-

1. Robinson

2. Knowles 4. Holyoak 5. Lever 3. Atkinson

7. Hindley  6. Swinscoe  6. Walshe  11. Eshelby

 9. Laws

10. Evans

12. Stant P for Evans 69 mins

14. Thompson for Laws 69 mins

15. Stant C for Eshelby 87 mins 

Subs not used 16. Jervis and 17. Smith F

Yellow Cards none

Red Cards none

Debuts Robinson

Ilkeston Town manager Phil Stant relegated himself to the bench where he sat beside his son Craig Stant. Marc Laws filled in up front whilst Craig Swinscoe moved to midfield to cover for Steve Johnson. Danny Holyoak started at centre back and Joe Atkinson regained his place at left back in place of David Jervis. In goal Dan Robinson signed from Burton Albion made his debut coming in for the injured Ross Turner.

Gresley opened this local derby brightly and looked the more likely team in the early stages but they were stunned on 17 minutes by a wonder goal from Marc Laws (pictured left). The American born player beat three defenders before firing home from 20 yards. Gresley pressed for an equaliser but found themselves up against a stubborn Robins defence. In fact Ilkeston almost went 2-0 up when Mark Lever's header from a Ryan Hindley free kick was brilliantly saved by Dale Belford in the Gresley goal. 

After the interval the game became increasingly scrappy as both teams struggled to content with the bumpy Moat Ground pitch. The home side's best chance came in the 70th minute when Leon Doughty sent a flying header just past the post. 

Ilkeston sealed the three points on 84 minutes when Chris Thompson chased what looked like a lost cause as the ball ran towards the touchline. He some how kept the ball in and set off on a run towards goal before being upended by Dale Belford. Ryan Hindley scored with ease from the resulting spot kick.

WhiteBallProject Man of the Match - Mark Lever (pictured below) - An excellent performance from a player who is now back on form with a vengeance.

Today's result shows how far Ilkeston have come since their abysmal home defeat at the hands of Gresley back at the start of March. In fact Ilkeston have not a league game since that defeat and have not lost an away game in the league since the start of January when they were defeated by Bedworth United.

For the second game running the Robins won 2-0 and did not really play that well individually but as a team they are becoming a formidable unit. It is said that the side of a good team is one that can win and grind out results when not at their best.

We believe another record was set in today's game when Phil Stant and Craig Stant became the first father and son combination to play in the same game for Ilkeston Town Yes it was only for three minutes but it is still a very rare occurrence in modern football.

There is still an outside chance that Ilkeston may finish high enough for a play off place with a team from the Eastern Division but even after taking into consideration recent form I predict the Robins will finish no higher than ninth. I really do hope I am wrong!!.