Second half penalty sees Quorn exit the FA Cup
FA CUP PRELIMINARY ROUND QUORN 1 ILKESTON 2
IN the Preliminary Round of The Emirates FA Cup, Quorn slipped to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Pitching In Northern Premier League side Ilkeston Town 2-1.
The visitors, from the next league level up, did not have it all their own way, with the deciding goal coming in the second half from the penalty spot.
The first chance of the game came Ilkeston’s way. A fine tackle on the edge of his own penalty area by Mitchell Tait saw Ilkeston break at pace, with Jack Rogers turning in from the left and drew a fine save from Quorn goalkeeper Max Culverwell.
The 13th minute saw Ilkeston take the lead. James Reid found James Carvell, who put in a centre from the right which was turned home by Charlie Wakefield.
The lead lasted barely a minute, however. Leke Shodunke was fed the ball just outside the visitors’ penalty area, and the Quorn number 11 struck home a fine curling left foot shot past goalkeeper Ross Durant to equalise.
The 17th minute saw a long ball in from the Quorn left find Luke Varney, who saw his fine header draw a save from Durant.
Five minutes later the best save of the match yet, by either goalkeeper, saw Reid centre the ball onto the head of Aman Verma who put in a powerful header, Culverwell producing an outstanding stop.
This continued the theme for the rest of the first half, with Reid the outstanding player on either side, Ilkeston applying pressure on the home goal but unable to regain the lead before halftime.
The first 10 minutes after the restart was a cagey affair, before Varney cut in from the right in the 55th minute and put in a low shot well held by Durant. Three minutes later Nathan Dale put his shot, from a free kick on the edge of the visitor’s penalty area, just over the Ilkeston crossbar.
The deciding point of the match arrived in the 68th minute. Ilkeston substitute Zak Goodson, who only came on eight minutes earlier, ran straight at the Quorn defence. Jurelle Phillip tackled Goodson who went to ground, and despite appeals from the home side Referee Tom Burt awarded a penalty. Alex Troke took the spot kick and gave Culverwell no chance to restore Ilkeston’s lead.
The 71st minute saw slack play in the Quorn defence nearly lead to a third visitors goal, letting in substitute Billy Bennett, his shot producing a good save from Culverwell.
Goodson broke clear of the Quorn defence again in the 79th minute. His shot rebounded off a defender to Carvell, Culverwell keeping Quorn in the game with another good save.
As the match approached the closing stages Ilkeston broke and Wakefield shot just wide. Five minutes of added time saw neither side able to break down each other’s defence, Ilkeston coming away with a 2-1 victory.