Friday night I was sitting having a coffee round at Kev’s when I received a message inviting us to go to a game on Saturday morning. Apparently Basford United were to entertain Ilkeston Town in a hastily arranged friendly behind closed doors at Greenwich Avenue, and would we like to attend? Er, yes please! Not been to a game since last Sunday, so the invitation was readily accepted.
We arrived at the ground at 11:15am, and the 3G pitch looked superb. The perimeter fencing was piled up with the snow that the Academy lads had scraped from the pitch on Thursday, but all in all a terrific job had been done to try and get the scheduled game v Lincoln Utd on. As it transpired, there was no chance of the Lincoln team getting to Basford anyway, hence the friendly v Ilkeston.
Our ex-Eastwood Town friends Ian Deakin and Chris Shaw are part of the “new” Ilkeston Town – it was good to see them both in action. Prior to kick off, Town’s Martin Lench came and had a chat – injury kept him from taking part in the game.
Mick Leslie was in charge of proceedings. The game was scheduled to be played in three 30 minute periods, and although the cold was bearable to begin with, the fact that the third segment was reduced slightly was somewhat welcome, as the toes were becoming more and more numb as the game went on!
Basford’s squad was mainly first team regulars, and although their visitors looked to be very well organised and well managed by Steve Chettle, they could only hold out until the 11th minute when they allowed Liam Hearn too much space in front of goal, and the “hitman” made no mistake. This goal has been duly recognised as the first teams first in the new black and gold nets!
Basford made a few changes during the short break, and Hearn stabbed in at the far post ten minutes into the second period, with step 6 Town seemingly unable to cope with the incessant pressure from their step 4 opponents. Ilkeston did take the game to their hosts after going two down, but Saul Deeney in the United goal never looked likely to concede. With a few seconds of the 30 minutes left, Hearn fired home again to complete his hat-trick.
The third period saw lots of changes from the visitors, notably for me and Kev, Deakin taking over goal-keeping duties. No more goals, but Deaks did pull off a “worldy” midway through the period, diving to tip Harry Wakefield’s 18 yard effort over the bar for a corner, prompting Deaks to quip “Harry, maybe in a couple of years, Son!”
18 year old Wakefield has just been signed on a one year contract by United, and with experienced striking partners Rob Duffy and Liam Hearn on hand to offer help and guidance, I'm sure he will soon be challenging for a regular starting place at Greenwich Avenue.
Another played awarded a one-year deal is Fernando Bell-Toxtle – the 19 year old arrived from AFC Rushden and Diamonds earlier on in the season and has been a revelation. Such a gifted player, and a proper football head on his shoulders. The club have really done well to secure his services. I can see a really bright future for this talented player. The management team of Martin Carruthers and Mark Clifford also had their contracts sorted – two year deals for the duo.
Images courtesy Basford Utd FC
