REPORT BY: EVAN SEAMAN

ILKLEY Town AFC put four past Garstang on a wet afternoon at the MPM Stadium on Saturday, which gave them a vital three points towards the end of the season.

It was prolific goal scorer Kevin Gonzalez who broke the deadlock for Ilkley at the beginning of the match and got his 16th goal of the campaign which gave them the perfect start.

Shortly afterwards, The Baht’atters doubled their advantage when Blake Wood scored from close range to put them in cruise control of the game.

Sam Dexter’s side were enjoying a lot of possession of the ball and looked like they were confidently winning, until Garstang hit back just before the half an hour mark when Andrew Murphy halved the deficit for them.

However, Ilkley made it 3-1 just before the break when attacking midfielder Nathan Hunt made 14 for him this season after Gonzalez’s low cross into the box, which put the hosts back into pole position.

Then not long into the second half, Wood pounced on a mistake from Garstang’s goalkeeper Oliver Green to get their fourth goal of the game.

With time running out, the away side managed to grab another consolation goal from Aaron Hewitt which gave them half a chance of coming back into the picture.

However, Ilkley were able to hold on for an all-important victory with eight matches left to go now.

The result means Ilkley have moved up to 7th in the league table, three points off the playoff positions so it will surely set up a nervy final few matches.

Whereas for Garstang they are struggling to beat the drop and sit above the relegation places only on goal difference.

Next up for Ilkley is Runcorn Town away who are currently 11th, so it could be an opportunity to move further up the table.