Ilkley’s head of rugby Rhys Morgan is urging his side to build on their best performance of the season as they tackle a tricky away test at Old Brodleians on Saturday.

Morgan was delighted with last week’s 25-17 win over Selby and believes his team are heading in the right direction.

But he knows there is no room for complacency in the highly-competitive Yorkshire Division One this season.

“We played some great stuff against Selby,” purred Morgan. “For the first hour we were totally dominant and though we seemed to ease off late on and let them back into the game, that doesn’t detract from a good result.

“Yes there are things to work on. One of their tries came because one of our players shot out of the defensive line and we started leaking penalties again in the closing stages.

“That is something we are continuing to work on because penalties can prove so costly, particularly in the sorts of tight matches that this division is throwing up this season.”

One of the most pleasing features of the Selby match was the performance of the new half-back pairing of Ryan Cooper and new boy Josh Kimber.

It was a bold move to plunge them into what promised to be a very testing match, but they came through with flying colours.

Cooper, who has recently returned after his cricketing commitments, took over from the out of sorts Tom Collard at scrum half with Kimber being handed the number ten shirt on his debut.

It was a tough ask as he became the third player after Alastair Monks and Craig Barker to take on the role following the departure of Mike Cacchia.

Kimber stood up to the test and showed that he has the ability to manage a game. He even took over the goal- kicking duties late in the game after Barker suffered a damaged ankle and substi- tute Collard missed a couple of kicks.

Barker’s injury allowed Steve Nolson to revert to his favoured position of centre from the wing and he added another try to his tally for the season.

It is expected that Nolson will now line-up alongside Monks at centre against Old Brodleians.

Morgan said: “It was unlucky for Steve that I had to move him to the wing last week because he had done nothing wrong at centre.

“He has really come on as a player since he joined us from Aireborough last season.

“It is good to see players taking their chance and then making a position theirs."