Whitby Town’s miserable run of form continues with 5-1 battering on the road at Ilkeston Town

Jamie Walker's early penalty put the hosts in command at the Microlise New Manor Ground, while strikes from Thomas Cursons and Harvey Kirby-Moore ensured Ian Deakin's side held a three-goal lead at the break, writes Liam Ryder.

Another calamitous goal from a Whitby point of view, scored by Cursons, extended the home side's advantage before Sam Collins's eyecatching effort ensured that Town at least got themselves on the scoresheet.

But it was Ilkeston who finished the scoring through Walker as Whitby suffered a sixth defeat in nine games in all competitions.

An unchanged Seasiders side made the worst possible start when a long ball over the top eventually resulted in Shane Bland bringing his man to ground after Jassem Sukar failed to deal with the danger. Jamie Walker stepped up to convert beyond the frustrated Whitby gloveman who had guessed the right way.

It was Aaron Haswell who had the first real chance for Whitby as he called Matthew Yates into action, who parried the strike but no one in a blue shirt was able to follow up on the rebound.

Stephen Walker then found space to strike a right-footed effort towards goal, however he was denied by a strong block from Thomas Marshall who made up part of a solid Ilkeston defence.

Town had a strong penalty shout when Joseph Gibson went to ground, however it was deemed that the midfielder had instigated contact himself and he saw a yellow card for simulation.

In the 37th minute, Ilkeston doubled their lead as Cursons was given time to capitalise on the loose ball over the top before taking a couple of touches and unleashing an unstoppable left-foot strike into the far corner.

Just five minutes later, the hosts had a third following a corner. Whitby failed to clear, despite having multiple attempts to do so, and Kirby-Moore capitalised as he fired into an empty net.

Whitby made a slight improvement at the start of the second on the back of what must have been a strong half time team talk. Walker hit the target with a close-range effort which was tame, and Haswell charged forward to call Yates into action with a save at his near post.

But Cursons, who remained a thorn in the side of the Whitby defence, had a couple of chances to add to his tally too. He firstly called Bland into a routine save hits the target for Ilkeston, before dragging an effort narrowly wide from a tight angle.

Stephen Walker’s next opportunity came on the hour mark as he cut on to his left foot before being denied by a defensive block.

Cursons continued to be a real thorn in the side of Whitby as he dragged an effort wide from a tight angle, before teammate Colin Daniel curled wide from the edge of the area.

The Ilkeston striker did find his second goal 11 minutes from time as he capitalised on more poor Blues defensive work when he got on the end of Jordan Wafula's knock-down before finding the bottom corner.

Left-back Collins did pull a goal back for the Seasiders when the ball was neatly laid off to the former Middlesbrough defender who fired home emphatically from a tight angle.

In stoppage-time, Ilkeston made it five. Cursons had been denied by Bland from the penalty spot but, from the resulting corner, Walker headed home unchallenged.