Shirebrook Town 3 - 1 Staveley Mw - Ncel League Cup 3rd Rnd

Not initially planned but the thoughts of watching 'The Brits' was enough to flush Dudsey out of the house, even in sub zero temperatures.

Jokes aside..I`ve been meaning to get to Shirebrook to see what sort of squad Mark Shaw was assembling at Langwith Road since his departure from Sheffield Fc, which if I`m honest I think has been to Sheffield`s detriment on current form.

The place seems to have re-gained it`s buzz since his arrival and rightly so, he`s currently raised them from a club who were floundering near the foot of the table to second in the league, hot on the heels of Athersley Recreation for promotion to the Ncel Premier Division.

Staveley on the other hand have had a tumultuous couple of months due to problems off the pitch, which see`s them fielding just one member of what was for me a very promising squad.

It`s initially a bitterly cold evening with a cutting breeze wafting over the ground from the changing room end, gladly the wind eased off and it didn`t seem too bad, (“cold enough mind”).

Shirebrook started off with a side of mixed experience enabling Shaw to access some of his up and coming stars and tbh they knock the ball about nicely and seldomly looked in any real danger of coming second.

Not to knock Staveley`s efforts, a team made up primarily from the reserves and U19`s, you could tell the lads had played together and they looked as comfortable going forward as they did coming back with some good fluid movement down the wings.

Towns strikers, Jordan Lemon and Kyle Jordan are seriously quick lads and in Ant Rowley they probably have one of the best wide players in the league for me.They are at Staveley from the off but the visitors don`t look too rattled and remain composed across the back. Initially it`s pretty good end-to-end stuff in the opening ten minutes, but once the home-side had settled down they start to look the more dominant of the two sides.

Antony Rowley

Ryan Damms looks his usual self for Staveley and poses a threat on a few occasions with some decent link play with Finlaw and Watters, but the pace of Lemon, Jordan and Rowley has the visitors back-peddling on numerous occasions and it`s Shirebrook`s skipper Danny Williams who opens the account in the thirteenth minute.

The visitors dust themselves down and get on with the game but the first half is in Shirebrook`s hands and despite some decent attempts to break forward a second goal just on the stroke of half-time via Lemon adds extra pressure for the hope of a revival in the second half. 

Staveley`s Ryan Damms

Staveley do raise a very commendable second half performance, Damms missed an absolute sitter after doing some tremendous work to create himself an opportunity around the hour mark, and if it had gone to 2-1 it would probably have spiced things up even a little more for the visitors.

Unfortunately Kyle Jordan`s and Shirebrook`s third goal with quarter of an hour remaining sealed the tie although Damms did manage to deprive the home-side of a clean-sheet with ten minutes left to play, 3-1 at the whistle. 

A fairly comfortable win for Shirebrook in the end but full credit to Staveley`s youngsters who under the guidance of Neil Cluxton, made a decent enough game of it.

Hopefully Mark Shaw and his side can go on and secure a place in the Ncel Premier for next season and Staveley will get a turn of fortune in the not too distant future.


My men of the Match - Shirebrook, Ant Rowley - Staveley, Ryan Damms


Teams : Shirebrook - Hallam, Ludlam, Rowbotham, E Wall, M Wall, Hemsley, Lemon, Jordan, Williams, Rowley, Holland. Subs- Mullen, Forbes, Cardwell, Barnett, Husbands.

Staveley - Dewberry, Forbes-Chambers, Jones, Tomlinson, Vickers, Lindley, Smith, Gee-Pemberton, Damms, Finlaw, Watters. Subs- Ellis, Naughton, Emson, Barrett.


Admission -£4 

Attendance -141 (A very decent turn out given the temperature)

Ilkeston Fc 2 - 2 Ashton United

Dudsey wasn`t too sure where this afternoon would see him end up...Rainworth are at home to Romulus. Sutton Town Afc are in a first v second tussle with Belper United whilst Ilkeston Fc host Ashton United.

No doubt the 'Ilson Faithful' will be definitely hoping for a better show than two weeks ago against Stafford Rangers, so I`ve decided to have a punt on the latter. Not very often you come across a game were both teams have the same nickname..but it 'The Robins' v 'The Robins' today.

There`s a decent crowd again at The New Manor Ground but there doesn`t seem to be much in the way of support for Ashton United lads.

Teams - Ilkeston; Martin, Cullingworth, Wholey, L Wilson, Maguire, Maduako, Watts, Richards, Ricketts (c), O'Connell, Reid. Subs - Partridge, K Richards, R Wilson, Hooton, Cooke 

Ashton - Phillips, Frost, Robinson, Lynch(c) , Caldecott, Kosylo, Baker, Burke, Johnson, Barlow, Burns. Subs Harrop, Moore, Hogan, Sheriff, Amadi

Ilkeston started the game bright enough, Matt Roberts looked far more comfortable in his normal mid-field role, whilst James Cullingworth stoked the engine from right-back, ex Leicester City youngster..Jide Maduako had a bit of shaky start in central defence but eventually settles into his game.

Ashton United were robust in defence, especially their No 3 (Danny Caldecott) who played with real conviction and kept Ilkeston`s skipper Ricketts` very quiet in the first half. Mid-fielder, Stephen Johnson has a nice turn of foot and is making some effective runs down the left in an attempt to feed Ashton`s top scorer..Aaron Burns who has found the back of the net an impressive nineteen times to date.

Wilson`s men are looking to have the upper hand but seem a bit wasteful at times, after winning the ball they`re just hoofing it up the pitch to no-one, Richards looks comfortable on the ball down the left and he serves up a series of decent balls into the area but Kieron O`Connell and Ricketts are having trouble beating a solid Ashton defence but the chances are there.

Ilkeston do like to get forward in numbers, sitting back and waiting to break seems to be the norm for teams visiting the NMG as Stafford did, it`s an effective strategy which rewards the visitors with a quality opener, a quick break see`s a decent cross fall to Burns who takes an excellent touch before volleying it into Martin`s top right-hand corner, 0-1 on twelve minutes against the run of play.

Stunned by the opener, Ilkeston set about their game again and continue to push into the visitors box, James Reid has space to burn out on the right flank but no-one seems bothered as the game seems to be all down the left.

Much to the delight of the 'Ilson Crew' who are out in numbers behind Paul Phillips` goal, a through ball into a busy box strikes the hand of Ashton`s impressive skipper Chris Lynch who doesn`t get the benefit of the doubt from the Ref or the the fans, it`s a straight red to a chorus of "Cheerio" from the crowd, "a bit harsh on the lad for me".

Joe Maguire steps up for the kick and chooses to go "hard and low", ironically enough so does Phillips who collects the ball easily. As if the disappointment of a missed penalty wasn`t enough to digest, the spectacle of watching their team totally lose all momentum for the remainder of the half against a team reduced to ten men must have been a proper head-bender for the 457 strong crowd, 0-1 at ht

Dudsey`s not too sure what`s being dished out in Ilkeston`s changing room at half-time, rest assured it`s not as nice as the Chips, peas and gravy I enjoyed for the princely sum of £1.80p...Quality.

Whatever Kevin Wilson fed the squad in the interval it certainly filled the tanks of the lads in red, within fifty seconds of the restart James Reid had squared the game with a decent shot from about ten yards out, 1-1 and hopefully, game on..!!

The neglect of the space down the right in the first half must have been pointed out in Wilson`s half-time chat,  Cullingworth and Reid are ripping up the by-line and Ilkeston seem to have the bit firmly between their teeth, Roberts is dominating the mid-field but seems to be running himself into Cul-de-sacs with nowhere to go.

Expectations of a goal are high for the home supporters and it`s not far away, the only problem being..it`s at the other end again, Ashton are quick to swoop on a wayward pass and Scott Hogan is off deep into Ilkeston`s half with Tom Baker hot on his heels, with three defenders guilty of a spell of ball watching, Baker slips in behind them and slots the ball past Martin, 1-2 with probably their first real break of the half.

Both sides make the necessary changes, the visitors to shut up shop whilst the home-side decide to throw the kitchen sink at it.

Adamant to hang on to their advantage, Ashton get everyone behind the ball and Ilkeston are free to press on. and they`re certainly piling on the pressure. A wave of corners have the visiting Robin`s penned in and Rickett`s rises high in the box and nods the ball down to Reid who rattles a decent volley beyond Phillip`s, 2-2 with five minutes left to play.

The last five minutes is nail biting stuff, Ilkeston are rampant but credit due to Ashton`s ten men who are defending like Trojans, good enough in-fact to see themselves through to the final whistle.

A decent afternoon out at a ground which is fast becoming on of my favourites, good facilities, decent food and a great atmosphere from an appreciative crowd. From a neutrals perspective this was a decent enough game,"not too sure if Kevin Wilson will see it that way though".

My Men of the Match; Ashton - Danny Caldecott (solid as a rock). Ilkeston - James Reid (an excellent second half).

Match Pictures - Click here


Attendance - 457

Admission - £9

Sheffield Fc 0 - 2 Leek Town

Having looked at the local fixtures earlier on in the week, there`s only two games which catch my eye....Staveley Miners Welfare are at home to Parkgate in the Ncel Prem whilst Sheffield Fc are at home to Leek Town in the Evo-Stik Division 1 South.

Saturday Morning, it`s grey and drizzling outside.."Can I really be arsed with standing outside on a damp, freezing cold Saturday afternoon for two hours"..."Not really" and as much as I thought I had made my mind up...come twenty to three I find myself on the A61 ...So Sheffield v Leek it is.

It`s the first time I`ve visited the BT Local Stadium since the departure of Sheffield`s ex-boss Curtis Woodhouse...Just to wish Curtis all the best and hope his preparation for his re-scheduled title fight against Shayne Singleton in Manchester on March 8 is going well.

Looking at today`s team-sheet, there also seems to be a few changes amongst the playing staff, with only half a dozen of Curtis` side lining up today. Lee Cooksey has re-joined the club from Rainworth Mw and Jordan Eagers has made a step up the pyramid from Staveley.

Young Jack Waddle..(son of Chris, who`s here today somewhere) is on loan from Chesterfield whilst Leek`s line up looks pretty consistent with previous match reports from the Evo-Stik website over recent months.

The game gets underway but it`s hardly a thriller, the pitch is very heavy and Leek are inviting Sheffield to take the initiative. Jack Waddle has the opening shot on goal followed by a couple of decent chances for Jon Muldoon which could have seen `Club` take an early lead but once 'The Blues' found their rhythm they set about their business in a very organised manner.

'The Blues' seemed to have all area`s well covered under the watchful eye of  skipper George Melling who`s no nonsense approach to defending kept Sheffield`s advances to a minimum in the opening half hour. Jamie Hadfield is working his socks off to try and keep Tim Grice at bay but he`s not getting much help..!!

Danny Smith was immaculate all game but in the first half he was untouchable, spearheading nearly everything Leek conjured up...not bad for a right-back..!!, Dan Shelley and Tim Grice were at hand to gratefully accept Smith`s quality through-balls, his constant probing deep down into Sheffield`s half was causing them a heap of problems. Sheffield get the odd break here and there but aren`t doing much damage in the final third of the park.

A fifteen minute spell of pressure saw the visitors take the game under control and a very scruffy attempt to clear the ball in a very congested box gifted Peter Wright the chance to prod the ball beyond Liam Flynn, 0-1 with ten minutes remaining of the first half. Leeks second goal came in the dying seconds of the half as Matt Bell laid a decent cross for Grice to tap home from close range, 0-2 at half-time.

Sheffield make two changes in the interval and came out brightly for the first five minutes of the second spell but the visitors soon regain control of the game and looked odds on to increase their first half lead. Sanders and Grice are running young Waddle ragged down the right flank where the ball is being duly collected by Wright who had a least three decent chances to put the game to bed, but ironically 0-2 was to be the final score.


All in all a pretty poor game on show for the home supporters. Leek were by far the better of the two teams, crisper passing and thoroughly more organised on a pitch which was really heavy in places. 

On the face of it, this a probably one of the worst performance`s I`ve seen by a Sheffield side for quite a while, gone has the cutting edge, the usually robust mid-field looked lacking and the steely determination which has seen them not only retrieve a deficit, but to turn it into a victory was nowhere to be seen today.


My Men of the Match; Leek - Danny Smith (immaculate) and in defence for Sheffield, Jamie Hadfield ("he can`t do it all on his own though")

Teams - Sheffield -Flynn, Turner, Waddle, Burrell, Hadfield, Cooksey, Eagers, Stirrup, Muldoon, Forbes-Swindells, Woolley (c). Subs, Powell, McKenzie Taylor, Al-Hakam, Roney

Leek  - Chapman, Sanders, Smith, Melling(c), Thomas, Hall, Bell, Shelley, Wright, Grice, Danylyk.  Subs; Peach, Hadrell, Urwin, Brannen, Roberts. 

Attendance - 225

Admission - £6      

Burger with Onions (Beef hopefully!!) £2.30 

Ilkeston Fc 0 - 2 Stafford Rangers

After a four week break Dudsey was hoping for a bit of a football feast today, it`s tenth spot taking on twelfth in the Evo-Stik Premier Division.

It`s a truly freezing February afternoon but there`s a good crowd to take in today`s game at 'The New Manor Ground'.

Kevin Wilson has strengthened the squad with the recent arrival of the highly experienced ex-Blade Robert Kozluk who is sponsored by his ex Bramhall Lane colleagues...Phil Jagielka, Michael Tonge and Michael Brown. Two more fresh faces in camp come in the form of Kieron O`Connell and Cameron Darkwah, who are both on the bench.

Stafford Rangers` squad has only two members of which Dudsey has any knowledge of, the first being Karl Ashton who joined from Mickleover Sports and Christian Dacres who had impressed me so much whilst he was skipper at Rushall Olympic.

The visitors get the game rolling, but it`s the home-side who seem to pose the biggest threat, Rickett`s should have done better, heading the ball over the bar from Jack Watts` perfectly weighted cross. Stafford have the odd break but nothing too intrusive with Ashton being the 'Target Man'. The game seems to be all speed with no quality football on show, it needs to settle down a bit for me.!!

Eventually the pace comes down with Jack Watts and Kozluk providing the main route in for Ilkeston down the right-flank, the visitors seem content to take their chances as they arrive with George, Brown, Walshe and Bolton looking very compact in the defence.

Adam Alcock fnds himself the busier of the two keepers

Ilkeston continue to push but Rickett`s, Matt Richards and Aaron Hooton look out of sorts in front of goal, Richards for me was probably 'Ilson`s best mid-fielder but since Daryl Thomas departed he increasingly finds himself thrown up-front. The game flows well but the mid-field is baron of any real quality passes from either side.

Just as the first half looked as though it was about to finish goal-less, Stafford make a break and Danny Quinn (who looked to be a shade off-side at the time of receiving the ball) tee`s one up for Ashton, he pulls the trigger just sneaking it beyond Chris Martin off the right-hand stick. 0-1 with five minutes to go, and that`s how the first half finished.

Stafford celebrate their opening goal

It`s time to wrap my hand`s around a hot drink after I eventually manage to fasten the buttons back up on my jeans, Dudsey`s fingers are blue with the cold and the warm air hand-drier in the toilets sure as hell was a saviour.

In an attempt to address the deficit, Wilson brings on two subs for the second half but it`s not falling for 'The Robins' although they still continue to have the lions share of possession. Stafford remain solid in defence and are doing a good job in keeping Ilkeston`s advances at bay.

Tight defending saves the day for Rangers

Stafford continue to sit back and await their chances, if anything they seem far happier to focus their attentions on time wasting which you`d expect in the dying minutes, but not twenty minutes into the second half. It`s stop-start all the way as Stafford try to stifle the flow of play in the second half but the officials seem quite happy and let them get away with it.

The desire to square the game is the failure of the home-side as the visitors break from a sloppy pass and being left open at the back they head rapidly down into Ilkeston`s area, winning themselves a corner. Fabrice Kasiama lofts in a decent ball and Liam Walshe is at hand to nod it into the Clock Tower goal on seventy minutes. 0-2 and it`s all to do for Ilkeston.

Ilkeston push on to no avail

The Robins throw the Kitchen Sink at it for the last twenty minutes but the solidarity of 'The Rangers' defence remains intact although the home-side do come very close in the final minutes but the clock is beating them and it finishes at 0-2.

Not an epic by any stretch of the imagination especially for a neutral. On the face of it Ilkeston will probably consider themselves unfortunate not to have gotten something out of a game in which they enjoyed so much of the ball but Stafford came with a plan, to sit deep allowing 'The Robins' to expose themselves. They stuck to it, it worked and they took the honours.

Nice to hear the final whistle sound in daylight..!!

Click here for all match Pictures


Starting Line-ups - Ilkeston : Martin, Kozluk, Wholey, L Wilson, Maguire, Maduako, Watts, R Wilson, Ricketts (c), Hooton, Richards.


Stafford: Alcock, George, Brown, Walshe, Bolton, Dacres, Heler, Downes (c), Ashton, Quinn, Kasiama.


Attendance - 515


Admission £9