Wilson's Cup heroes march on

Ilkeston FC ensured that there's at least one more chapter to be written of their thrilling FA Cup story for this season when they booked a place in the Fourth Qualifying Round with a 4-2 success against Gresley FC.

The Evo-Stik League South Division club provided spirited opposition and two outstanding strikes from Marc Goodfellow kept them in contention until two minutes from time.

But watched by a crowd of 621, goals from Daryll Thomas (2), Aaron Hooton and the outstanding Matt Richards eventually saw the Robins through to a deserved success.

Said manager Kevin Wilson: "Gresley took some killing off and two 'worldies' from Marc Goodfellow kept them in the game. But I thought we fully deserved the win and with all the chances we had, we should have put the game to bed a lot earlier.

"I'm delighted to be in the hat for the next round. The supporters are enjoying the Cup run, so are we - and the extra revenue for the club is certainly a good thing.

"This result means we're now undefeated for four games and from my point of view, the most important thing is for us to carry this form over to the League because I want to see us start climbing that table as quickly as possible."

The Robins got away to a flying start when Thomas (pictured) laid on the chance after 10 minutes for Hooton to score in fine style but Gresley hit back five minutes later when Goodfellow expertly found the top corner with a free kick from 25 yards.

Thomas regained the lead after 31 minutes with a neat glancing header when James Reid swung over a free kick from the right and the pair combined again in scintillating fashion 10 minutes after the break.

Reid again appeared on the right to claim possession and when he skilfully threaded the ball into the path of Thomas, he didn't need a second invitation to score.

At last the Robins had some breathing space but just two minutes later, Goodfellow again gave Gresley hope when his left-foot volley flew into the net.

Spurred on by that spectacular goal, Gresley forced Ashley Timms to make three good saves as they pressed hard for an equaliser. But Richards eventually clinched victory two minutes from time, squeezing the ball home from a seemingly impossible angle.

With Buxton drawing their FA Cup tie at Hednesford, it means Monday's scheduled New Manor Ground clash will now be postponed - and also that new striker Jordan Smith will have to wait for his Ilkeston FC debut.

That is now expected to come next Saturday when Stocksbridge Park Steels are the visitors to the New Manor Ground on Non-League Day.