by Peter Scherer
Mickleover started their home league campaign with a 1-3 defeat against local rivals Ilkeston Town, in a scrappy game.
Starting line-up: 1-Yusuf Mersin 2-Jake Bennett 3-Brandon Webster 4-Curtis Weston 5-Luke Cox 6-Charlie Hickingbottom 7-Dylan Edwards 8-Ryan Wilson 9-Stuart Beavon 10-Andy Dales 11-Brandon Ferron. Subs: Will Atkinson, Dan Bradley, Leojo Davidson, Fin Ryder, George Taft.
Sports won an early free kick which Wilson sent just wide of the post after two minutes and as they continued to push forward, a sequence of corners followed, with the final one headed over.
Walker had Ilkeston’s first real chance after 12 minutes, following up from a free kick which was easily gathered by Mersin in the Mickleover goal.
There were a couple more corners for the visitors but the game had already begun to fall into a scrappy affair, with big kicks upfield and niggly tackles, stifling Mickleover’s attempts to play football.
21 minutes in and Marshall went in the book for Ilkeston, after hacking down Dales on his first real run of the game. Wilson’s free kick was close again, before Edwards was then fouled, and so another free kick from Wilson failed to test the keeper.
Ilkeston got a break a couple of minutes later, but Bennett won the race back and covered the danger competently, But the action moved to the other end as Beavon put Ferron through, only to have his shot blocked, before any danger was cleared again.
On the half hour a dubious free kick was given for an alleged handball, after shouts from the Ilkeston players. But it was the first real sign of the dramatics from Ilkeston, that fooled the referee for much of the game.
As the ball came into the box Cursons found Minkley who fired home at close range, with the defence somewhat flat footed and Mersin still on his line, 0-1.
There was then a long hold up with three Ilkeston players prone on the pitch in different places, one receiving treatment but unclear what the other two were doing.
Words were exchanged around the bench area and Sports manager Gareth Holmes was sent to the changing rooms.
By the time the referee had regained control it was almost half time, but not before Sports pulled it back to 1-1, with Beavon setting up Ferron, who fed Dales for a run in from the left. A beautifully placed ball had Yates beaten on his far post and it was all square.
Only a minute later Ilkeston won a corner, which Walker floated into the box to find Parker. The defence failed to make the challenge and Parker headed home to make it 1-2 as the half time whistle finally went.
Ilkeston had made one change for the start of the second half, but Mickleover initially stayed unchanged.
Dales was again the victim as he tried to run at the defence via the left wing. But Ilkeston’s game plan seemed to be just to frustrate the Mickleover play, stopping the normal flow and passing game and forcing them to follow the kick and run style of the visitors, which continued to fail for them.
The referee was proving even more unpredictable, ignoring sequences of fouls, yet giving free kicks for the more dramatized dives, of which Ilkeston’s Connor Brown seemed to be going for an OSCAR.
After another scramble in the Mickleover box after 55 minutes, Walker eventually shot wide, but once again the home defence looked vulnerable and struggled to clear their lines.
Dales had more charges at the visitors, before he was inevitably hacked down again on the half way line.
But Sports did manage to get a shot in after 63 minutes, when Weston picked his spot but the keeper had it covered.
Mickleover made a double substitution a minute later, with Bradley and Davidson on for Cox and Beavon.
Despite Dales and Edwards working hard up front, Mickleover’s natural game continued to be stifled and after 71 minutes Ilkeston went close again, with Mersin tipping an effort from Wafula over the bar, after another chaotic session in the box.
But Edwards determination almost set up the equaliser, when after 72 minutes he was just inches goal, with the Ilkeston defence in disarray, he just failed to make the final shot.
Daniel then got a break for the visitors, but Hickingbottom intercepted, then with another corner awarded, the whole Mickleover team were back to defend.
But as Walker’s corner came in again, it was the inevitable, as the defence once again lost out to a dead ball, and Cursons made it 1-3.
Sports still tried to go forward and Dales managed a run on the left without being fouled, but as Ferron attempted to collect, he was held back by a defender and the keeper was left with an easy catch.
Davidson’s pace then made him a similar target to Dales, and his 80th run ended with him being chopped down in full flight. Davidson had a shot wide after 84 minutes and was fouled again three minutes later, but that was ignored as Ilkeston won an immediate free kick after another dramatic dive.
On the 90 minute mark Hickingbottom let fly from outside the box, but that was over and the referee insisted on adding another six minutes as the drizzle ended a disappointing night.
“We have to learn and move on, as it’s our first defeat as a new team and we need to adapt to how others play. We need to focus on what we’re good at and stay true to ourselves. It takes time to gel as a team, but we know we can grow,” said Sports manager Gareth Holmes.
