| Ilkeston
Town 1-3 Rugby Town |
| FA
Cup 2nd Qualifying Round |
Saturday,
30th September 2006
Attendance
| 393
|
Entertainment |
|
 |
 |
Captain
Craig Herbert puts in a commanding performance
at the back for Valley |
A
second half double strike from Jason Taylor guaranteed
Rugby a place in the next round of the country's
premier cup competition - helping to cap an impressive
all-round team performance at Northern Premier
side Ilkeston.
Taylor
individually was also in fine form, and was unfortunate
not to complete his hat-trick. Having seen a first-half
effort closely ruled offside, he then provided
the cross for Matt Gearing's opener, and late
in the game he was only just off target again,
as another hat-trick chance went begging.
An
unchanged Rugby line-up dominated the first half
hour of the game, and could easily have been three-up
within the first few minutes of the game.
With
barely two minutes on the clock, David Stone only
just failed to control a dangerous through ball
from Willis Francis when he had broken clear of
the Ilkeston defence. Shortly after an Aaron Stringfellow
cross only just evaded the stretching Taylor,
and then Stone released Taylor - who saw his shot
caught by Robins' keeper Ben Scott.
The
vociferous Valley travelling supporters only had
to wait until the sixth minute for their side's
opening goal though, when after good work down
the right wing from Stringfellow, Taylor's low
cross to the far post bounced up invitingly for
Matt Gearing,
who then sent a clinical diving header into the
net.
Valley
continued to control the game, and Gearing almost
added to his first goal for the club, but having
beaten a couple of Ilkeston defenders, his goal-bound
effort was blocked.
A
well-struck Francis shot from the edge of the
penalty area was flicked into the net by Taylor,
but the linesman harshly adjudged that the striker
had been in an offside and position. Taylor's
curling free-kick from 25 yards also just skimmed
over the top corner, and Stone and Stringfellow,
in particular, continued to cause problems from
wide positions.
Ilkeston
had to wait until 34 minutes for their first serious
goal attempt, when the experienced Justin Walker
fired narrowly wide after being set-up by Adam
Muller.
The
home side were finally now making some impression
on the game, and on the stroke of half-time, a
lack of concentration in the Valley defence saw
them level the score. Farhad Afandiyev failed
to claim a long free-kick into the box from Walker,
and the ball found its way through to Barry Miller
at the far post, who headed it back to Rick Brewer,
who then applied a simple headed finish.
This
could have easily knocked the stuffing out of
Rugby in the second half, but Jeffrey's young
side returned after the interval with renewed
vigour - determined not to let a famous victory
slip through their hands.
Even
after suffering the loss of influential midfielder
Willis Francis through injury early in the half,
they still pushed forward in search of a goal.
They
regained the lead on 58 minutes, when goalie Scott,
under pressure from Stone, shanked his clearance
straight to Jason
Taylor, and the lanky striker
applied a cool, chipped finish back over the keeper's
head from around 40 yards.
More
persistent running from Stone saw him dispossess
Miller six minutes later, and his low cross into
the box was met by a sliding finish from
Jason Taylor to increase
the advantage.
Ilkeston
were now forced into pushing forward in search
of salvaging something from the tie, but a Rugby
defence well-marshalled by Delroy Gordon dealt
comfortably with their efforts. The Robins' attacking
threat was limited to a handful of half chances,
and a couple of dangerous crosses - which Afandiyev
gathered easily.
Another
Stone crossed ball to Taylor saw him head just
over the bar in the game's final minute, but by
then the game was safe anyway and thoughts had
moved to the next round.
Report
by Jon Venner.
|
