Martin Carruters hails keeper after llkeston Town progress in FA Cup
Durrant brilliantly saved the spot-kick of former Premier League player Ricardo Fuller with the Robins leading 2-1.
It proved crucial as Ilkeston bagged a vital third goal eight minutes later, before wrapping it up late on.
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Hide Ad“In football there are fine margins and the penalty save was huge,” said Carruthers.
“There are heroes and villains in the FA Cup and Ross Durrant was the hero today. It was a fantastic save.
“We put clips up of his last penalty and in my head I was saying dive to left. In the end it was a fantastic save.
“Goals change games and if we had conceded they would have been on the up and we would have been under the cosh. It was a critical moment.
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Hide Ad“We scored two late goals that were flattering, but the penalty saved changed things and we have Ross to thank for that.”
And Carruthers admitted the scoreline did not tell the whole story of just how tough the game had been.
“The scoreline was flattering, we knew it would be a tough game,” he added.
“We did our homework and knew they were organised. We watched them in previous games and knew they were dangerous.
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Hide Ad“We couldn't break them down in the first half and were struggling to find a way through.
“We found a bit of magic to get level and then ahead. We knew the third goal was critical and it proved that way.”
The visitors hit the front on 21 minutes when a Niall Cope shot deflected past Durrant.
Zak Goodson levelled on 34 minutes after a good run and finish.
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Hide AdIt was 2-1 three minutes later when Goodson played in Nat Watson who picked his spot from just outside the box.
The pivotal moment came when Fuller was brought down in the box by Kieran Fenton, before getting up to see his penalty saved.
Goodson slotted home on 82 minutes after good work by Ollie Brown-Hill to put Ilkeston well in control.
And they made the game safe when Alex Troke scored from the spot after Mason Lee was fouled. The incident also saw Cope shown a red card for dissent.