Ilkeston at home

Not been able to go tonight on account of a real dose of Man Flu !
Just my luck....Lewis come in as well as another new signing in winger Dodd. Ok the web site said "pacey wide midfielder"
I hope he has come in to replace Kyle Haynes as I am convinced we badly miss his fast attacks down the wing, and then maybe, just maybe Luke Benbow will get the service he needs instead of those awful long high balls from defence. Add to that the possibility of Lait being instructed to run at the defenders and we just might get something tonight.
Following on the Twitter feed.........

Hope springs eternal ! GOYG !

Gutting. Thought we did really well tonight.

It was much better football at times but you really shouldn't blow a two goal lead against 10 men,bloody schoolboy stuff.

Jack wrote:Gutting. Thought we did really well tonight.

Agreed, listened on Bridge radio who said the boys played really well.
Always disappointing to concede in the last minute especially following an unexpected good performance against promotion contenders.
But.....still a good performance !

Hope still springs eternal !!

Far better tonight,Dodd is a fine player and Lait is exciting.

If we could add some bite in central midfield and sort out our shambolic defending then we might have the beggining a of a brighter future.

A more positive and uplifting display tonight than for many months.

Agree with the comments. Much better tonight, a much more balanced team. Disappointing to concede late on but plenty of positives came out of tonight. Credit to young Chettle (no. for Ilkeston tonight, ran the show in midfield.

That should say Ilkeston number 8!

Could GlassboyPaul let me know if I posted my match thoughts quickly enough please?

Tricky,Brockmoor and Jane are heading for the naughty step,it's gone 10.30pm and they still haven't posted.

Tut,tut.

I'm a little confused. I don't know if I'm allowed to comment on tonights game or not?

I don't want to get it wrong and be accused of having an agenda.

Best leave it to be on the safe side.

Devil's Advocate wrote:Could GlassboyPaul let me know if I posted my match thoughts quickly enough please?

Tricky,Brockmoor and Jane are heading for the naughty step,it's gone 10.30pm and they still haven't posted.

Tut,tut.

I've already posted devil,I'm safe.

I didn't make it at all! That said, sack the board, get the subs on Hackett and get Horne and Ingram back.

No going in the bar tonight, the bingos on and Jack Head is whipping pint glasses out of folks mouths so quick there's a string of saliva still attached.

Up the Standard!

For the disappointingly low crowd of 252, last night's game was a real thriller with end-to-end, non-stop action and full of controversy.

Our performance in the first half was the best seen for a long time, with the make up of the team looking much more balanced. Matt Dodd had a good, confident debut although he doesn't look a natural winger such as Chris Lait who again impressed. Luke Connolly, as well as being a good defender, also offers attacking options. I still have doubts about Josh Quaynor who looks a bit lightweight.

In the second half, Ilkeston upped their game and looked very hungry. For such a young team, they were hard and physical but with lots of skill and determination not to get beaten. By far and away they were the best team seen at Amblecote this season.

Now is not the time to criticise our team for letting a 3 - 1 lead slip with 10 minutes to go and playing 10 men. I've not seen Gary so animated as when confronting the match officials who missed the blatant handball which led to their equaliser at the very end. I think that shows just how much pressure he's been under the last few months.

With such a huge turnover of players continuing, I can only think that Gary is already planning for next season with players being on trial now, rather than in pre-season friendlies.

One final comment regarding Luke Benbow. I know he's not under contract but with SFC paying him, I assume, a substantial wage, why is it that he's also playing Sunday football ?

If we hadn't aimlessly just crashed the ball foreward five or ten seconds before the handball and kept possession of it against ten men then that whole situation would never have occurred.
I've said we played much better football and it was lovely to watch at times but that doesn't deflect from the fact we chucked the game away and that's schoolboy stuff.

It was indeed schoolboy type defending at the end. HOWEVER, I feel there was enough especially going forward to suggest there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Luke while he didn't have his best game for us worked a lot harder than he has done in weeks. Dodd looks a very positive signing, and Lait continues to impress. IF and it is a big if, we can keep those 3 fit and happy AND get a solid base at the back we do have a group of players who can mix it with the teams at the top half of the league. Some of our best performances have been against the better teams, and that sums up how frustrating a season it has been.

One thing I personally liked was how animated Gary was at the end. Not a single sign of giving up on it all.

Man of the match voting was as follows,

MATT DODD 20 votes
Luke Connolly 7
Chris Lait 2
Kayelden Brown 2
Will Richards 1

Winner of the wine was KAREN HOWE.


Thanks to all who took part.

Not surprised at that result,Dodd looks a quality player at this level.

Only players of this quality from now on please Stour,an end to the "journeymen" and dross we've been seeing in recent months.

Lait and Dodd are two steps in the tight direction.

redpike wrote:One final comment regarding Luke Benbow. I know he's not under contract but with SFC paying him, I assume, a substantial wage, why is it that he's also playing Sunday football ?

Because he enjoys it perhaps?

As he's not under contract we can't stop him.

It's not uncommon. I saw Kings Lynn's Henry Eze turn out for Continental Star's Sunday team a couple of months ago.

Posted in the wrong thread initally!


Certainly an entertaining game with a very disapointing sting in the tail, conceding in the 94th minute. the first half was some of the best football seen in a considerable while and we where good value for 2-0, I wasn't that convinced about either penalty award.

Dodd was impressive adding some much needed bite. Their bloke can have few complaints about his yellow cards but the sending off was the worst thing that could have happended for us, we where poor after that and the defending for the two goals was very poor. Gutted we couldn't hold on but considering they hit the post twice, had one cleared off the line and the first half chance which i thought had burst the net but somehow missed, probably just about the right result. Some positive signs at last against a team I thought would have far too much for us, but much improvement needed at the back still.

I'd looked at the teamsheet twice and it hadn't registered who was in goal until someone pointed it out, I suppose because it was a very familar name!