Wirral 10 Ilkley 5

THIS was most certainly one that got away from Ilkley as they were pipped by their fourth-placed opponents in a close-fought National League Three North encounter played out in wet conditions.

Wirral created early pressure and were close twice but the Ilkley defence held firm.

After weathering the early storm, Ilkley moved to within range of the Wirral line from a penalty. The ball was spilt on the first surge for the line, but Ilkley were not to be denied for long.

Another Ilkley line-out was driven at speed back towards the line. It was stopped short and set up for Joe Rowntree to feed Kimber. JH Johnson came in on the angle to find an unstoppable line to score.

The Dalesmen went close three or four more times with their back division all troubling a resilient Wirral defence.

A bout of indifferent kicking from both sides came to an end when Wirral scrum half Joe Murray took a penalty quickly with Ilkley's defence in full retreat. When a high tackle stopped his progress, Danny Harvey slotted over the penalty.

The Dalesmen responded well with Elliot Morgan stopped just short after a weaving run. Then, against the run of play, the Ilkley momentum was rudely interrupted after a promising position was turned over.

It was to prove a costly slip when Wirral forced a line-out deep in Ilkley territory after a high kick was lost in the sun by the visiting defence.

From the line-out Wirral drove for the Ilkley line and finally the Dalesmen's defences were breached as centre Matt Loon went in from a couple of metres. Harvey converted to make it 10-5.

Despite trailing the omens looked good for the Dalesmen as they had both the strengthening breeze and the slope in their favour in the second half.

Somehow and for no apparent reason, Ilkley lost some composure and found themselves under severe pressure.

They conceded penalties and line-outs as they wee forced to pull every defensive trick out of the bag, some that referee Chris Binnie took exception to. A number of warnings were given and Ilkley wer fortunate that Harvey missed a kickable penalty.

There were several great runs from the Ilkley backs to break the home side's dominance but a couple of loose kicks surrendered the potential initiative.

There was lots of enterprise but no end result.

The mayhem was compounded when both Nick Carolan and Iain McKenzie, within a couple of minutes, were given ten minutes to gather their thoughts on touchline.

To keep their line intact while two men short took a huge effort from Ilkley. When they were restored to full strength for the final five minutes they realised that the game was still there for the winning.

Three penalties materialised, twice the lineout was won, once the Wirral scrum was pushed off their own ball, but on each occasion the advantage was lost to great defence and possibly attempting that one pass too many when a more direct approach might have paid off.

It just wasn't to be for Ilkley who returned home with a losing bonus point and a bucket load of disappointment.