West Yorkshire Premier League

Ilkley Town 4 Hall Green United 0

ILKLEY Town made a flying start to the new season against newly-promoted Hall Green United.

Simon Armstrong and his management team of Dave Houlston and player coach Lee Spiers fielded a strong team with a couple of new signings.

After a high tempo start Ilkley were 3-0 up in the first 25 minutes with goals from Matt Whitehead, new signing Toby Harris and captain Danny Bott.

Based on possession and clear cut chances created Ilkley could have and should have scored more goals in the first half.

The second half saw Ilkley drop off in quality and tempo with Hall Green growing into the game until a Spires penalty wrapped up the points.

Hall Green had a player sent off for two yellow cards late on.

A strong opening day performance from Town, with room for improvement and tougher tests ahead.

West Yorkshire Alliance Division Two

Otley Town Reserves 1 Ilkley Town Reserves 3

TOWN Reserves started their campaign with an away 'derby' at Otley.

The home side took an early lead when Aaron Taylor exploited hesitancy in the Ilkley midfield.

Town were level on 18 minutes when pressure from Eric Sallu allowed a typical neat Chris Morris finish to level the score.

Ilkley's man of the match Sallu was a constant threat to the home defence who struggled with his persistent harrying.

With Morris withdrawn just before half-time, his replacement Charlie Sykes latched onto another block by Sallu.

Sykes broke with a powerful run before turning inside to score and give Ilkley a half-time lead which they just about deserved.

The second half saw Ilkley reduce the number of defensive lapses which had led to several Otley scoring chances.

However the home side remained a threat as Town failed to dominate possession effectively, allowing the game to get stretched and Otley to counter.

A sound defensive effort from Harry Cooper and the back four kept Otley at bay and with four minutes remaining Harry Higgins finally converted one of several chances; driving the ball home from an acute angle.

This goal secured the local derby and three points for Ilkley Town's 2nd XI in their first league outing of the season.

Next up for the firsts are away trips to Pool on Wednesday and Robin Hood Athletic on Saturday.

The Reserves are at home to Wetherby Athletic on Saturday, while the Academy begin their first campaign in Craven League Division Two with a home game against Salts FC.