League

Ilkeston Arena
Spectators: 7496 (Terracing: 5661, Seating: 1735, VIP seats: 100) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Julian Dry kicked off to start the match. Ilkeston FC Champ's Gerry Birch played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Julian Dry in the 6th minute of play. Gerry Birch didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Mattias Summers went, in the 15th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-1 was the resulting score. Donny Chambers fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 20th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Reggie Nicholson having to interfere. In the 25th minute, Donny Chambers ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Reggie Nicholson was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-1. Mattias Summers received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 33rd minute. Gerry Birch tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Austin Hanley kicked well hit freekick during the 34th minute of the match. Gerry Birch made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mattias Summers in the 35th minute of play. After a defensive mix-up in Crowngate's zone, Donny Chambers stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Reggie Nicholson came out of the goal and Donny Chambers tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Mattias Summers sent away a hard shot on goal in the 41st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Tris Pope hit a great freekick 45 minutes into the match. The score stood at 1-1 when the half time whistle went. Both sets of players seemed reasonably pleased with how the match was going.

The wind increased when Lance Best made the kick off in the second half. Lance Best hit a great freekick 51 minutes into the match. After having played for 54 minutes, Lance Best managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Ilkeston FC Champ's supporters crossed their fingers, but Lance Best was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Reggie Nicholson showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Lance Best in the 55th minute of the match. In the 71st minute, Mattias Summers left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Crowngate fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-2. After some careless play in the Crowngate defense, Donny Chambers kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Reggie Nicholson. The Crowngate fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Reggie Nicholson should have stopped the shot. Austin Hanley kicked well hit freekick during the 77th minute of the match. The supporters of Crowngate booed when Ilkeston FC Champ was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 80 match minutes in a wonderful position. Alistair Hitchcock didn't get a good kick on the ball. Denzil Greenman's late challenge caught a Ilkeston FC Champ's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Denzil Greenman helped the player get up and apologised. After 88 played minutes Crowngate got a freekick which was hit by Denzil Greenman. After 91 played minutes Ilkeston FC Champ got a freekick which was hit by Alistair Hitchcock.