11:14pm Tuesday 28th April 2009
Kendal Town’s promotion dream ended in extra time at the hands of Ilkeston as they went down 4-3 in a thrilling game of football.
While it will prove little consolation for Town, the game, that was enthralling start to finish, will surely be remembered as a classic by the 653 fans in attendance.
Kendal took the lead after only two minutes with Tony Hallam hitting a half volley in from inside the area after a Taylor knock down.
Ilkeston responded on 32 minutes when Danny Sleath converted a well-worked move and the home side went on to dominate much of the remainder of the half.
But with the interval looming Town striker David Foster robbed a Ilkeston defender of the ball and sent a shot into the bottom left corner to give Town a 2-1 half time lead.
The second half continued at the same breakneck speed and Ilkeston once again drew level from the spot kick with Tom Cahill converting.
Just two minutes after levelling the home side were ahead after a brilliant break that ended with Marc Newsham steering the ball past Newnes on 61 minutes.
Town continued to push forward though and deservedly made it three a piece when Alex Taylor headed home on 82 minutes from Wisdom’s ball in.
Plunged into extra time the game ebbed and flowed as legs tiered. Neither side deserved to lose but cruelly for the Town faithful it was Ilkeston who scored the all-important fourth goal on 108 minutes with Kieran Murphy just doing enough from close range following a corner.
Paul Byrne was shown a late red but even so, every single one of Kendal’s players put in a brilliant performance in a hugely memorable conclusion to Town’s 2008/2009 season.
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