Ilkley Town 4 Shelley 3

Ilkley picked up their first win in three West Yorkshire League Premier Division games but it should have been achieved by a wider margin.

After the 1-1 draw between the sides last month a close game was expected, but Ilkley went on the front foot instantly, with Lee Spires and then Toby Harris twice missing glorious chances to put the hosts ahead early on.

Shelley's man of the match keeper Paul Day denied Darren Munday, Dave Hancock and Spires from what looked like certain goal opportunities.

Ilkley finally took the lead in the 43rd minute when Harris' looping cross found Spires to tap in from close range.

Ilkley soon made it 2-0 as Adam Davey's fantastic through ball sent Harris clear on goal and he powered the ball past Day, before a bullet free-kick from Shelley's Danny Lockwood made it 2-1 just before half-time.

Davey was not be outdone as he cracked a 30 yard strike into the top corner to make it 3-1 at the break.

Moments after the second-half got under way, Matty Whitehead one-on-one with Day, should have made it 4-1, as his effort smashed against the post.

Whitehead missed another chance shortly after, dribbling around Day but running out of pitch as the ball went out for a goal kick.

Spires looked destined to grab a goal for Ilkley, before taking the unselfish option to square it to Harris, who couldn't convert.

A wasteful Ilkley would soon be punished, as James Bootland fired past Hirst on the rebound to make it 3-2, before Spires played in Ilkley captain Danny Bott who stretched his side's lead to 4-2.

Just as Town thought the game was over, Lockwood grabbed his second by chipping Hirst for 4-3, but Ilkley would ride out a nervous last few minutes to secure a 4-3 win.

Reflecting on the win, Ilkley manager Simon Armstrong said: "In the first half we had some very nice phases and scored three very good goals.

"After the break we stopped doing that and stood off, giving them time to launch it long and put us under pressure and we invited that which was really disappointing.

"That is where the closeness of the game came from. If we had of continued what we did in the first half we would have gone on to win comfortably."