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Ilkeston Line up:- 1.
Robinson 2.
Knowles 4. Holyoak 5. Lever 3. Jervis 7.
Hindley 8. Cooke 6. Swinscoe 11.
Eshelby 10.
Laws 9.
Freestone Subs 12. Thompson for Cooke 55 mins 14. Stant P for Eshelby 69 mins Yellow Cards none Red Cards none Debuts none
It was Matlock who started the strongest n front of a large Causeway Lane crowd and Dan Robinson was forced to make a series fine saves from Steve Taylor and Danny Holland to keep Ilkeston in the game. Matlock then seemed to sit back and let Ilkeston take the initiative. Ilkeston huffed and puffed but were unable to force Matt Taylor in the Gladiators goal into making a save despite Marc Laws and Chris Freestone both having half chances. After the break the Robins again tried to put the Matlock defence under pressure but it was not until Phil Stant and Chris Thompson were introduced that this pressure bore fruit. Only minutes after he came on Phil Stant rattled the bar with an excellent free kick and on 75 minutes Chris Thompson (pictured below) headed home powerfully after tremendous free kick from Ryan Hindley. Hopes of a miracle comeback were dashed only five minutes later when the impressive Danny Holland finally beat Dan Robinson with a low twenty yard drive. Matlock now relaxed and played out the remaining minutes by keeping possession and there fore comfortably defending the three goal aggregate lead to win the first trophy in twelve years.
WhiteBallProject
Man of the Match - Dan
Robinson - Kept Ilkeston in the game with
some excellent saves.
Craig Swinscoe and Russell Cooke worked hard in midfield but it was plain to see that Ilkeston missed the drive and skills of Liam Walshe and Steve Johnson. Matlock are a club who are back on the rise after a long spell of mediocrity and there was a buzz around the ground. It was an atmosphere that Manager Phil Stant will be hoping to emulate at the New Manor Ground next season. The most bizarre aspect of the evening was the police presence outside the ground after the game. Sadly Ilkeston's reputation for crowd trouble still lingers on in the Derbyshire Dales but thankfully we all know that this is a thing of the past.
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Ilkeston
Town went into this game aiming to claw a three goal deficit from the
first leg but they hampered by injuries and players being cup tied. Russell
Cooke (pictured left) came back after a long lay off through
injury and Craig Swinscoe showed his versatility by again
slotting into midfield.
In
the end despite a brave performance Ilkeston again did not have the
firepower to hurt a well organised Matlock defence. Chris Freestone's
return did not produce the expected improvement and the Robins did not
have a shot on target till the 70th minute.
