Ilkley chairman is upbeat despite relegation (From Ilkley Gazette)

Ilkley chairman is upbeat despite relegation

11:58am Thursday 11th June 2009

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You would expect some gloom and despondency after the kind of season Ilkley Rugby Football Club’s first team have endured.

A year ago there was elation when they were promoted from Yorkshire One after a 28-24 play-off victory at Durham and Northumberland Division One runners-up Northern.

But surely smiles are much harder to come by after the North Two East campaign the men from Stack’s Field have suffered?

After all, one win and a draw from 22 fixtures and a points deficit of 490 in finishing rock bottom is hardly cause for optimism, especially when they haven’t been relegated and face the same standard of rugby in 2009-10 in the newly-named North One East.

But Ilkley’s chairman Richard Scargill is remarkably chipper as they digest what happened last season, particularly the vulnerability of the three-quarters, and look forward to the next campaign.

As for the prospect of playing at the same level which gave them so much grief last season, he said: “The bottom line is that Ilkley Rugby Club’s senior players want to play at the highest possible level, and we hope that we have learned from what happened last season.

“We have had a season at that level and hopefully the players will be better for it.

“We realise that mistakes were made last season, and some of them were schoolboy errors such as missed first-up tackles but we know we cannot get away with things in North One East, or North Two East as it was, like we did in Yorkshire One two seasons ago.”

Scargill added that Ilkley were not helped by a player drain having achieved promotion.

He said: “We lost five players in pre-season - two went to Bradford & Bingley, another retired, one moved out of the area and one was so unreliable that we weren’t certain whether he would be playing or not so we decided not to pick him again.

“You can replace one or two but not five but the spirit is still marvellous within the squad, which is remarkable given what they have gone through.”

The proposed North One East line-up 2009-10: Billingham, Carlisle, Darlington, Driffield, Durham City, Gateshead, Hartlepool Rovers, Ilkley, Morpeth, Old Brodleians, Old Crossleyans, Percy Park, Pontefract, Sandal.

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