Bucks v Ilkeston - report & pictures

Three home games and three draws – AFC Telford’s failure to find a winning formula on their own ground is becoming a worrying trend.

This time they had more than half an hour playing against 10 men after Ilkeston striker Gary Ricketts was sent off for a second booking.

But they could not make the breakthrough and, in truth, rarely threatened to do so.

The main positives for Telford were the new signings, who both settled in very well.

Left-back Sean Newton admirably filled the void left by Gareth Jelleyman, while Shane Killock deputised competently for Gavin Cowan, who was on best man duties at his brother’s wedding.

But their solid showings did little to ease the feeling that two points had been well and truly chucked away.

“You take a lot of pride in keeping clean sheets as a defender but unfortunately it doesn’t mean much in the end,” said Killock, who is on loan from Oxford for the next month.

“We should have won the game so we’re disappointed with the result overall.

“We felt like we could break them down but we didn’t have much quality on the ball – we kept giving it away in key areas and we never really looked like getting a good spell of pressure together.”

Ilkeston carried a significant threat of their own, and had a great chance to go ahead inside the first 10 minutes, the ill-fated Ricketts putting a free header wide.

But Telford created the best opportunity of the first half, with Carl Rodgers’ glancing header from Steve Torpey’s corner being cleared off the line by defender Daniel Holmes.

Debutant Newton also hit the top of the bar with a well-struck free-kick just before half-time.

In between those two moments, Ilkeston’s best chance came when Amari Morgan-Smith found space in the area and his goal-bound shot was well saved by Ryan Young.

The first half ended in acrimony when Danny Carey-Bertram went down under Ilkeston defender Charlie O’Loughlin’s aggressive aerial challenge.

O’Loughlin was booked for his troubles, but boss Rob Smith and assistant Larry Chambers both had plenty to say about that to referee Simon Durbin as the teams headed off the pitch at the interval.

With yellow cards mounting rapidly for the visitors, a red card seemed inevitable and it came on 58 minutes when Ricketts, already cautioned in the first half, was penalised again for a foul on Stuart Whitehead.

It should have signalled the chance for the Bucks to pile on the pressure, but it was not until the final 10 minutes that they really got up a head of steam.

In a frantic finale, Andy Brown headed over off substitute Danny Edwards’ corner, while Rodgers and Phil Trainer had efforts blocked in a goalmouth scramble.

Killock also headed over the top from a Torpey cross, but there was still the unmistakeable feeling that it was not going to be Telford’s day.

Indeed, it took terrific recovery tackles from both Killock and Whitehead to deny Sam Duncum two shots on goal as the 10 men threatened to nick it on the counter-attack.

Muffled boos greeted the final whistle and, while that may have been harsh, the Bucks boss was in no mood to make excuses for his side.

“The final ball was terrible,” said Smith. “We didn’t do enough to deserve to win that and it was very frustrating.

“We had a few decent chances, but we look very goal shy.

“We don’t even look like scoring at the minute, which is a concern.

“The only bonuses are that I thought the two new lads did well, and we got a clean sheet.”

By Chris Hudson

[caption id="attachment_75418" align="aligncenter" width="373" caption="Telford's new loan signing Shane Killock jumps with Ilkeston forward Gary Ricketts. All pictures by James Baylis."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75419" align="aligncenter" width="282" caption="Match referee Mr S Durbin shows Ilkeston Town striker Gary Ricketts a red card after his challenge on Bucks skipper Stuart Whitehead led to a second booking"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75420" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Telford's Liam Blakeman hooks the ball around his Ilkeston opponent Sam Duncum"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75421" align="aligncenter" width="359" caption="Ouch! Bucks sub Danny Edwards feels the full force of this challenge from Ilkeston's Daniel Holmes"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75422" align="aligncenter" width="419" caption="Telford's Phil Trainer is closed down by Ilkeston's Paul Dempsey"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75423" align="aligncenter" width="411" caption="Ilkeston defender Charlie O'Loughlin keeps Steve Torpey at bay"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75424" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Telford sub Matt Nolan heads this late chance for United wide from a corner"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75425" align="aligncenter" width="275" caption="Telford's new on loan defender Shane Killock challenges with Ilkeston forward Gary Ricketts"][/caption]