Old Crossleyans 17 Ilkley41

SECOND team regulars Ed Brown and Will Davies made their debuts and last season's record try-scorer Stu Brewer

made a welcome return as Ilkley's North One East promotion push gathered pace.

With the second team dismantling Harrogate at Stacks Field, Ilkley showed how fortunate they are in having such strength in depth. Both newcomers had fine games and the hour that Brewer played showed the Ilkley travelling support what they had been missing.

The Dalesmen's seven-try victory and Rochdale’s loss at Northern means that the Dalesmen are guaranteed at least second place, though the entire squad is up for winning the league outright and thus avoid having to face a play-off.

Just one point behind leaders Sheffield it’s going to be a case of who blinks first and the consensus is that if either side loses, it would be game-over as far as the title is concerned.

With Crocs fighting for survival, it came as no surprise that they started the game well and with referee Jordan Wagner missing nothing, scrum-half Chris Vine was given the opportunity to put his side ahead when Ilkley’s backs strayed offside, but the kick drifted wide.

Back came Ilkley and as winger JH Johnson went close, Crocs prop Reuben Pollard was yellow-carded for interference. The visitors piled on the pressure, with Brewer making the hard yards. The ball was twice held up over the line before James Spencer’s great take in the line allowed the lock to touch down in the corner. Josh Kimber’s conversion attempt failed.

Vine then brought Crocs back into the game with two penalty attempts, the first hitting a post. He had better luck with the second when Ben Magee was yellow carded for tackling the catcher in mid-air. This seemed to disturb the normally ice-cool Ilkley back line and some uncharacteristic handling errors led to yet another penalty that Vine landed to put Crocs in the lead at 6-5.

Over-complication by Ilkley’s backs allowed the home side to stay in the game and it seemed that the stubborn home defence was not going to yield.

Vine’s fifth penalty attempt went over and as half-time loomed, Ilkley were 9-5 down.

Then a flash of genius by Brown was rewarded. He spotted a gap and darted through it with Spencer and Magee on hand. The young winger touched down in the corner. Kimber again missed the kick, but Ilkley had a slender half-time lead of 10-9.

Crocs came straight onto the attack from kick-off and progressed upfield, only to find themselves dispossessed by Brewer, who immediately fed Johnson on the wing. The supporting Alastair Monks took the inside pass to touch down.

Ilkley still seemed to be over-complicating their back play, possibly judging the pitch to be too narrow for their normally expansive game and losing possession as a result.

After one botched move, Ilkley were penalised for crossing and Vine slotted his fourth penalty to keep his side in with a shout.

A high tackle gave Kimber the chance to find touch five metres out. The line-out was and two long passes found Johnson on the left wing to score the bonus-point try. Kimber’s successful kick meant that Ilkley were now two scores ahead at 22-12.

Into the last quarter, with James Crossley on for Brewer, the replacement was high-tackled again and Kimber found touch 30 metres out. A superb take by Pete Small and an amazing drive all the way to the goalline led to Crocs collapsing the maul and a penalty try was duly awarded.

Crocs were now having to fight for their lives and only an unfortunate knock-on by stand-off Gareth Ott prevented a score.

The visitors hammered down the coffin lid as the next score was a great team try, set up by a mazy Magee run. Spencer and Small were on hand to drive towards the line and then Magee appeared again, slipping a beautifully weighted inside pass to Paul Petchey to score in the corner.

One more throw of the dice saw Crocs get a deserved consolation try by left-winger Luke Saltonstall after some sterling work by skipper Jack Hammond.

A scrappy final five minutes saw a curious passage of play, with a couple of loose balls being hacked around by both sides. Kimber’s boot through brought its reward when the ball obligingly bounced up into his arms and in he went under the posts, his kick sealing a satisfactory 41-17 win.