Ilkeston Town 3
Nantwich Town 2
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Saturday 17th January.2009.


ILKESTON TOWN 3 v NANTWICH TOWN 2
Tom Cahill.43. 66 (Pen) Dave Macpherson.37.
Marc Newsham.76. Michael Lennon. 83.

Ilkeston: Adamson. Church. Hurst. Hooks. Wild. Murphy. Istead. Pringle. Cahill. Newsham. Duncum. Substitutes: Douglas. Morgan-Smith. Howell, Campbell, Haystead.

Nantwich: Jones. Beeston. Kiss Tinson. Smith. Parkinson© (Whittaker 80). Carter. Macpherson. Walker. Lennon Gibson (Griggs 68). Substitutes: Whittaker. Griggs. Jarrett. Francis. Tickle.

Referee: Mr A.P Barney (Coalville) Attendance.386.

Dave Macpherson’s transfer from Leek Town to Nantwich got off to a flying start with the attacking midfielder scoring a well taken goal on his debut for ‘The Dabbers’. The build up began in the Nantwich half during which Richard Smith played a great through ball to ‘Ash’ Carter who then played in Dave Walker - Walker then providing a low cross from the Ilkeston left to be met by the unmarked ‘Macca’ at the far post who stooped to meet the ball and finish with a powerful header into the corner of the net.

Nantwich began well, winning six corners in the opening twenty minutes – the best effort coming from Mark Beeston whose close range header was on target until Adamson just managed to palm the ball over the bar to deny the ‘Dabbers’ right back. Phil Parkinson and Michael Lennon then had close range shots blocked before Nantwich secured consecutive corners – the latter narrowly palmed away by the under pressure Ilkeston custodian.

Meanwhile, Nantwich had to be alert to the pace of Ilkeston winger Sam Duncum and lively midfielder Ben Pringle but apart from Pringles 14th minute shot which struck the side netting; Ilkeston posed little threat during the first quarter hour. Meanwhile, ‘The Dabbers’ were making good use of space around the soft but otherwise decent surface of the New Manor Ground pitch. On 18 minutes, debutant Ilkeston defender Liam Wild pulled Michael Lennon back just outside the area giving Gyorgy Kiss a good chance to float the ball in from the Ilkeston left but a poorly taken dead ball kick allowed Ilkeston to break from the back leaving Mark Beeston to then deal with the threat of both Pringle and Duncum but Duncum managed to retain possession before Darren Tinson’s superbly timed intervention brought a halt to the threat of the Ilkeston winger. Meanwhile, Dave Macpherson demonstrated skill in winning a ball in midfield despite the close attention of three Ilkeston players, his through ball creating panic in the home defence during which ‘The Dabbers’ secured their 5th corner of the half.

Nantwich continued to press and Phil Parkinson’s through ball intended for Michael Lennon unfortunately blocked on the edge of the 6 yard box just as ‘Lenny’ looked set to break through on goal before further ‘Dabbers’ pressure secured a 6th corner from which Adamson did well to palm away. At the other end, Duncum’s pace enabled him to send in a dangerous looking cross from the right but with no fellow player on hand Nantwich calmly tidied up at the back. However, around the half hour a spell of Ilkeston pressure led to Gyorgy Kiss and Dave Walker receiving cautions whilst Ilkeston ‘man of the match’ Steven Istead followed into referee Mr Barney’s notebook for a foul on Robin Gibson. But then ‘Maccas’ debut goal - and a superb one at that. His timing to meet Dave Walkers 37th minute cross impeccable as he pulled away from his marker just as the ball was released to head past a static Adamson and deliver Nantwich a well deserved lead.




However, two minutes before the break Pringle progressed deep along the Nantwich right before firing across the box but despite Lee Jones making a great block with his legs the ball spun into the path of Tom Cahill who took advantage of an unprotected left side of defence to head home the equalizer.

The second half as far as Nantwich were concerned, was a different affair. Despite having 70% of the play in the first period ‘The Dabbers’ failed to match their first half performance and paid the price as a result. To make matters worse, they were forced to play with ten men from the 63rd minute after Gyorgy Kiss was dismissed for a second bookable offence after he brought Ilkeston midfielder Istead down during a challenge inside the area – on loan Rotherham United striker Tom Cahill stepping up to the spot to put the home side in front. Nantwich responded by selecting a 3 – 3 – 3 formation before a 68th minute change saw Danny Griggs come off the bench at the expense of Robin Gibson and it was not long before ‘Griggsy’ was making runs, during which he was unlucky to fire into the side netting from deep on the Ilkeston right.

However, Ilkeston went further ahead in the 76th minute after on loan Rotherham United striker Marc Newsham was allowed to progress without challenge from just over the half way line before calmly slotting past Lee Jones from 15 yards out. Despite that self inflicted wound Nantwich pushed for a second goal and were rewarded through Michael Lennon in the 83rd minute when he latched on to a great through ball from midfield and after outpacing the last defender ‘Lenny’ produced a great finish from 15 yards to score his 17th goal of the season and set up a tense finish. Sadly it turned out to be too little too late, and had it not been for the sending off of Gyorgy Kiss and the resultant penalty, Nantwich would have at least returned with a deserved point despite a less than impressive second half performance. Meanwhile, the defeat at Ilkeston, plus results elsewhere left ‘The Dabbers’ sliding from 6th to 10th ahead of the weekends visit of Whitby Town.

Assistant Head Coach Peter Hall summed up the afternoon thus: - “We began brightly and in a rather one sided first half created numerous chances, but that weren’t clear cut. ‘Maccas’ goal was superb thanks’ to initial good work by Richard Smith, ‘Ash’ Carter and Dave Walker. But concentration waned and we let them (Ilkeston) in despite ‘Jonah’ making the initial block with his feet but lack of support on the left allowed Cahill to follow in with a header. And despite a good talk at the break they then forgot everything that was said and as the second half wore on started to leave gaps and combined with a lack of quality it was no surprise that Ilkeston took advantage of our frailties. That said, there was a good response after we were reduced to ten men and ‘Lenny’s’ goal was a great finish”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson