Avro suffered defeat on the road for the second time in a row after Ilkeston Town scored twice in the second half
Initially, it was a great start for the Ro as Adan Owen on the left-hand side whipped the ball into the box for Jacob Holland-Wilkinson, who got his head on the ball and tried directing it into the bottom right corner, but his header stayed wide.
Around the 18th minute, the Ro had two great chances to take the lead: first, Holland-Wilkinson lobbed the ball over the defence for Bentio Lowe, who controlled it to his feet before having a go. Unfortunately for the striker, he sent it over the bar. Then just a minute later, James Simms on the right-hand side cut into the box before trying to squeeze the ball through a gap between the keeper and the post, but his shot was saved and parried out.
In the 24th minute, Ilkeston’s Anthony Dwyer won the ball on the edge of the box, beat his man and attempted to have a shot on goal; fortunately for the Ro, his shot was sent flying past the post and went out for a goal kick.
In the 35th minute, Ilkeston had their best chance to take the lead as a scramble in the box saw multiple players attempt to get the ball past Jon Vilar, Robinson, but the keeper and a few of the Ro’s defenders managed to block the shots and keep the game level.
The start of the second half saw the Ro immediately have a chance to take the lead as Jacob Holland-Wilkinson worked his way through the defence and slotted the ball in the back of the net. Unfortunately, as the ball hit the back of the net, the striker was called offside by the referee, and after some protesting, the ref stood firm on his decision.
In the 53rd minute, Ryley Smith attempted to win the ball off an Ilkeston player inside the hosts’ box, but just before he got to the ball, the Ilkeston player cleared it away, and Smith accidentally caught the player, leading to him receiving a straight red card.
Just before the 60th minute, Anthony Dwyer received the ball behind the Ro’s back line and managed to slot the ball past Vilar Robinson to finally break the deadlock.
Around the 70th minute mark, Ilkeston Town played the ball into the box from a free kick. It gets flicked on to an unmarked Luke Cox, who sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to make it 2-0 to the hosts and sealed the win for them.
Before the full-time whistle, McKeal Abdullah went into the back of Benito Lowe and the referee called for a foul before giving the player his second yellow card of the day.
Lineups:
Ilkeston – Alexander, Thompson, Grewal-Pollard, Hawkridge (63” Yaya), Cox, Johnson, Brandy (84” Jennings), Newell, Dwyer (89” Daniel), Elliott (70” Reason), Hunter (77” Abdullah)
Subs not Used –
Avro – Vilar Robinson, Thiam, Owen, Harrop (70” Ehimamiegho), Fitzpatrick, Hickman, Simms (70” Cottrell), Smith, Lowe, Salt, Holland-Wilkinson (59” Kershaw)
Subs not Used – Thompson, Davidson
