Pontefract 25 Ilkley 10

Apart from when they beat York in last season’s Yorkshire Trophy final, Pontefract is seldom a happy hunting ground for Ilkley..

And so it proved on Saturday as the Allsorts beat the out-of-sorts Dalesmen convincingly as stalwart Derek Eves and the Ponte pack doled out the sort of lesson that York were on the receiving end from Ilkley last week.

There were changes of personnel to contend with due to the absence of Iain Mackenzie and Alastair Monks.

Temour Ahmed got his first start at lock and Pete Turner earned a recall on the wing with Jack Revell moving to centre.

The visitors started brightly, but for ten minutes kicked away possession.

This was something that the home side profited from when right wing Simon Spears broke from his own half and looked certain to score until an outstanding cover tackle from Ilkley scrum-half Ryan Cooper saved the day.

Unfortunately, this only delayed the first score by two minutes, as Ilkley lost their own line-out, allowing one of Ponte’s stars of the afternoon Matt Williams to power over from short range, full-back Andy Dean converting effortlessly for a 7-0 lead.

Ilkley responded to the setback quickly. They opted for a scrum when the home side transgressed and Ollie Renton powered over for a try.

Their joy was short lived. Ponte scored a great try through flanker Richard Scott after a superb move from inside their own half. Dean’s conversion made it 14-5.

Then came the score that effectively ended the contest. Phil Howell’s clearance kick was fielded by Dean who put the supporting scrum-half Matty Hargreaves in for a try. This time, the conversion was well wide but the home side held a commanding 19-5 lead.

To have any hope of rescuing anything from the game Ilkley had to score first after half-time.

This they did with Stuart Vincent’s contribution to a fine move ending with a try for the ever-mobile Steve Burns.

Howell’s conversion attempt came back off the post, but at least Ilkley were back in the match again at 19-10.

With around 20 minutes to go, Ilkley did try hard to overcome Ponte’s aggressive defence, but were constantly repulsed.

A raft of replacements served only to disrupt an already disrupted side and it was no surprise when Ilkley were penalised that Dean added two more penalties.

This was an afternoon when Ilkley looked lethargic and uninterested.

However their man of the match Ollie Renton demonstrated several times what as asset he is to the club.

Even on such a disappointing afternoon he managed to catch the eye with his determined play.