Embarrassing Trophy exit for Robins

A dramatic second-half collapse at Whitby Town this afternoon saw Ilkeston FC booted out of the FA Trophy with a 4-2 defeat - just five days after making their FA Cup exit against AFC Fylde.

The Robins were 2-0 up and coasting at half time against their fellow Premier Division strugglers, but after losing star man Matt Richards shortly before the break, they totally lost their way.

"That second half performance was the most embarrassing I've witnessed in all my time at the New Manor Ground and I feel especially sorry for our fans who made the long trip to Whitby," said manager Kevin Wilson.

"Richards has a back injury - which is causing us some concern - but you cannot put the defeat down to the loss of one player. We simply fell apart after half-time and once Whitby got some momentum, we couldn't stop them."

Wilson opted for a 3-5-2 formation with Joe Maguire and Greg Pearson partnering the fit-again Russell Cooke at the back and James Cullingworth and Ryan Wilson as wing-backs, and the Robins got away to a perfect start when Richards scored a fine goal after just three minutes.

Gary Ricketts then paved the way for Laurie Wilson to stretch the lead with a header and the manager added: "It should have been all over by half-time with the number of chances we created."

There was certainly nothing to suggest what was destined to follow. Whitby pulled one back after 48 minutes and after Ashley Timms had saved a penalty, they were soon back on level terms.

There was no stopping Whitby and in the end, Wilson's men could have no complaints about the outcome as they were beaten by more than a single goal for the first time this season.

Added the manager: "There's no denying that we're a good footballing team but we have to start working a lot harder for each other as a team and show some leadership qualities.

"That second half show was a total embarrassment and the only positive to take from it is that we are now in a situation where we have no other distractions. We can give the League our full attention - and there's an awful lot of work to be done to get ourselves up the table."

With North Ferriby also losing this afternoon in the FA Trophy at Buxton, it means there's now a classic top v bottom confrontation in store on Tuesday.