Lymm 17 Ilkley 20

A WEEK is a long time in politics – rugby too – it seems as Ilkley bounced back from their 65-0 mauling by Sheffield Tigers to record their first National Three North win.

There was a welcome return to the Dalesmen's ranks with Iain McKenzie in the back row as an indifferent morning’s weather turned into a decent Autumn day and Lymm’s new pitch looked a picture in the September sunlight. The dimensions of the field must surely be the maximum allowed and must be well-suited to a team who likes running the ball. And there were two on show.

Ilkley’s line-out faltered badly, but this was compensated by some ferocious tackling and the pack’s composure grew with every minute of the game.

Ilkley knocked on from Lymm’s kick-off and this put the visitors under a lot of pressure, which was relieved by a Ben Magee run out of defence. A scrum was conceded on the half-way line and crisp passing by the Lymm backs saw full-back Joe Knowles take the scoring pass from left winger Mark Wells. Tom Shard’s simple conversion made it 7-0.

Ilkley came straight back and were clearly not going to be intimidated, two attacks going close within the space of five minutes.

Then a lost line-out gave Lymm the initiative. Their move broke down, but having recovered possession, poor Ilkley handling saw the ball dropped and Lymm seized their chance to put Knowles through for his second try. Ilkley were 12-0 down after 20 minutes.

It was nip and tuck for the remainder of the half. Lymm were marginally the better side, but Ilkley defended well.

The visitors knew they could take what their hosts could throw at them and the question was simply how to turn their plentiful possession into points. J-H Johnson made good yards after taking a quick tap-penalty and Ben Magee contributed to the cause with some classy fielding and long passing out of defence.

Ilkley were becoming the better side and Joe Rowntree was finally given the opportunity to notch Ilkley’s first points of the season, after Lymm had pulled a maul down. His thunderous penalty kick went over off the inside of the post.

Ben Magee was injured fielding a high ball and had to be replaced by Ryan Cooper, Rowntree going to full-back. Despite an early misunderstanding at the back of a scrum, leading to a Shard penalty miss, the change seemed to propel Ilkley up a gear.

When Lymm mounted their next attack, skipper Josh Kimber read the pass, intercepted and headed for the line. Just as he was caught, an inside pass found Aaron Magee who touched down under the posts. Rowntree’s kick sailed over and it was 12-10

Ilkley now sniffed a win that most pundits had deemed unlikely and another interception, this time by Johnson, took the red and blacks to the Lymm five-metre line. This threat was averted, but then Lymm transgressed at the breakdown and Rowntree had a difficult kick from the home 10m line. A truly superb effort gave Ilkley the lead for the first time at 13-12.

The Cheshire side was now clearly rattled and when their next move broke down in the Ilkley half, Rowntree snapped up the loose ball and sped down the pitch. Having made 50 metres an inside pass to the supporting Cooper yielded another try and Rowntree's conversion gave Ilkley a 20-12 lead.

Lymm knew they had to throw the kitchen sink at their visitors to gain even a losing bonus point. This they did, but valiant Ilkley defence kept them out until finally, flanker Jake Ashall crashed over on the left wing, too far over for Shard’s kick to find its target.

From the kick-off, Ilkley pressure forced an error and it was all over. They had secured a very fine win, generously acknowledged by both players and supporters from Lymm.