Ilkeston FC 2-2 Notts County
So, another season and an incredibly early start to proceedings, with two friendlies on just the second day of July. NCM travelled to Evo-Stik Division One South side Ilkeston FC with a keen sense of intrigue and in the hope of seeing some unfamiliar faces. We weren't disappointed, either, with the starting line-up at the New Manor Ground being a mixture of players from last season, new signings and youth team players.
NCFC First Half - Burch, Campbell, Chilvers, Unknown Trialist, Harley, Ravenhill, Whiteley, Allen, Westcarr, Jahidi, Boyack
IFC First Half - Butcher, Partridge, Peel, Colton, Kayode, O'Kane, Lammy, Caskey, Ricketts, Waite, McCall
The sun was beaming down on the few hundred spectators as the teams kicked off, with Notts looking to dominate possession from the off. Instructed by Allen to focus on passing the ball rather than looking to go forward constantly, Notts sprayed the ball around with confidence. Lewis Whiteley, who was given his first professional contract by Allen in May, looked busy in the Notts midfield and his bursting run and cross was nearly converted by young Jon Boyack. Whiteley was also at the heart of the move that saw Craig Westcarr played in, but he sliced his effort horribly wide of the target.
Westcarr looked lively for Notts and fired a long range effort over, whilst at the other end Lammy's long range effort stung the palms of Rob Burch. From the following corner in fact, the Evo-Stik side took the lead as the ball was recycled and crossed back in to allow Nottinghamshire non-league journeyman Gary Ricketts to loop a header back across goal and over Burch before nestling in the net. This didn't disturb Notts' passing as they looked to get back into a rhythm and continue retaining possession. Charlie Allen was instrumental in midfielder with an energetic display, whilst chances continued to fall Westcarr's way, with Aaron Butcher in the Ilkeston goal saving both a close range header and low effort after he had been played through. There was nothing Butcher could do on the stroke of half time though, as Westcarr rifled the ball home from the edge of the box after finding a yard of space.
NCFC Second Half - Speiss, Stirling, Guest, Unknown Trialist, Sheehan, J Hughes, Judge, Clarke, Jahidi, Wholey, Burgess
The second half saw the introduction of a trio of summer signings in the form of Alan Sheehan, Jeff Hughes and Jude Stirling as Notts continued to monopolise possession of the ball. Young winger Jahidi had proved to be a handful for Ilkeston all afternoon with his explosive bursts of pace and he nearly put Notts ahead after a mazy run through the home defence, whilst Butcher saved smartly from Jeff Hughes. Young 'keeper Fabian Speiss was called into action with a couple of fine stops before Notts took the lead for the first time.
A neat short corner was played between Sheehan and Judge, before the Irish winger fired the ball across goal, the loose ball falling to young centre back Guest who was able to fire it home. The referee then inexplicably failed to award Ilkeston a penalty when Speiss brought down Tom Caclough, before the Robins did equalise through Thomas. A neat move down the left saw the ball whipped into the near post with pace, where Thomas' clever touch diverted the ball beyond Speiss. Judge and Thomas both came close to winning it for either team, but the opening salvo of Notts' 2011/12 season ended all square at the New Manor Ground.