SSE North One East

Ilkley 32

Bradford & Bingley 13

BRADFORD & Bingley's forwards coach Ronnie Kelly found it difficult to find the right words after this derby defeat at Stacks Field.

The stalwart Otley and Bees prop eventually said: "When we train, it is 100 per cent in terms of commitment and work ethic but we need to find a way to put that into our game.

"We started well but then we just lost it, and that is disappointing."

Ilkley coach Rhys Morgan found it much easier to talk, saying: "It shows how far we have come when we can put a team like the Bees to the sword, and if we had taken more of our chances we would have scored 50 points.

"Our player-coach Stevie Graham wants promotion, while I want us to win every game, which translates into the same thing.

"We over-complicated the line-out at times but we were quicker and more clinical in general, and winger Ben Magee scored three tries."

The Bees, who remain third from bottom, could have scored with their first attack, centre Richard Tafa being shoved into touch near the Ilkley line.

They went ahead with a penalty by fly half Shaun Driver in the third minute but only worried Ilkley once more in the half, taking advantage of two successive penalties in the 31st minute for combative flanker Chris Fisher to score.

In general, the hosts profited down the visitors' right flank in the opening stanza, left winger Magee getting tangible reward for being on the receiving end of some hefty hits by scoring tries in the 11th, 14th and 43rd minutes.

The latter try came in added time after Bees left winger Tom Gough had been yellow carded for holding on in the tackle, but the second try was more controversial as the visitors claimed the ball had gone dead before Ilkley were awarded the line-out.

That third try seemed pivotal but the match was thrown in the balance when the Bees had their most cohesive period of the match in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, Fisher getting on the end of a pushover try after more good work by Tafa to reduce the margin to seven points.

However, fourth-placed Ilkley finished the match on top, deservedly adding two more tries – by centre Alistair Monks after 70 minutes when he switched direction to telling effect, and replacement James Crossley three minutes later with a walk-in try after Tafa had spilled possession, home fly half Josh Kimber adding the conversion to first-half conversion and penalty.

A minute's silence was observed before the match for former Bradford district representative Leslie 'Legs' Bentley.