Vauxhall Motors 4 Ilkeston Town 2
BELEAGUERED Vauxhall Motors finally registered a win in their bid for survival in Blue Square North after delivering a bloody nose to playoff hopefuls Ilkeston Town.
Boss Carl Macauley had called for a reaction from his players after two terrible performances last week and they responded first with a draw at high-flying Eastwood Town and then Tuesday night’s victory at home to the Robins – Motors first win in 12 games.
The Motormen showed great character to come back from 2-0 down and also recover from the controversial sending off of striker Lee Furlong on the hour.
Ilkeston took the lead after 20 minutes when on-loan Matt Godden fired home from the right wing following a quickly taken free kick.
Just three minutes later Robins captain Paul Dempsey capitalised on hesitancy in the Vauxhall defence and poked home from close range following a goalmouth scramble.
It looked as though the visitors were cruising but the game was far from over.
It took until the 27th minute for the Motormen to get their reward when Lee Furlong finished from close range following good work on the right from new signing Lee Dodgson.
Just five minutes later Motors got their equaliser when Brian Moogan whipped in a dangerous free-kick and skipper Josh Wilson was left unmarked to head home from six yards.
It looked as though both sides would go into half-time level but the hosts had other ideas.
Seconds before the whistle Keith Smith made progress on the right wing and drilled in a low cross which was finished by Furlong at the second attempt following an initial save by Robins’ keeper Dan Lowson.
Early in the second half Motors were reduce to 10 men when talismanic goalscorer Lee Furlong was sent off for lashing out at Ilkeston’s former Tranmer Rovers defender Luke Waterfall but the Motormen didn’t buckle.
As the Robins flooded forward in search of the equaliser Karl Noon was rewarded for his hard work when he found space on the break in the Ilkeston box and hit a right foot shot beyond the outstretched Lowson to seal the points.
Vauxhall: Coates, Lane, Moogan, Evans, Hannigan, Smith, Dodgson (Owens 89), Furlong, Noon, Wilson (Egerton 77), Grice. Subs: Wright, Richards, Mustafa.
