York 9 Ilkley 30

Scrum-half Ryan Cooper capped an outstanding individual perform-ance with two fine tries as the Dalesmen scored a fine bonus-point away win.

York’s early-season form looked to have evaporated as the Ilkley pack destroyed their counterparts with an intelligent, well-drilled game which enabled their side to outscore York four tries to nil.

Stuart Brewer and Steve Nolson were the other Ilkley try scorers, with stand-off Josh Kimber adding ten points with two penalties and two conversions to lift Ilkley from sixth to third in the league.

York’s pack was under pressure from their first scrum, which wheeled round giving Ilkley the put in.

Collecting the ball 30 metres out, Cooper, looked right and left, then went himself, scoring close enough to the posts to make Kimber’s conversion look easy.

York’s Downey was unable to convert his side’s first penalty when the Dalesmen’s backs strayed offside and then it was all Ilkley.

Lock Pete Small, having another good game, stole York’s line-out ball frequently.

With the home side’s scrum in tatters, the visitors had ample possession with which to attack and they used it extremely well.

Winger Paul Petchey was unlucky not to hold on to a JH Johnson pass with the line beckoning.

There were also a couple of poor line-out throws, but they were minor blemishes.

The consistent Ilkley pressure gained a penalty under the posts and Kimber’s kick increased the lead to 10-0.

York’s fragile pack then imploded as Ilkley pushed their opposition off their own ball, releasing Cooper and Brewer to set up a run-in for Nolson.

Unfortunately the centre tweak- ed a hamstring in the process of scoring and had to leave the field. This resulted in Johnson joining forces with young Elliott Morgan in the centres.

Kimber missed the conversion to leave the score at 15-0 at half-time, which was a fair reflection of the visitors’ dominance.

The first 15 minutes of the second half belonged to York, whose half-time talk was clearly effective.

Ilkley upset referee Dave Lindsay a lot in this period and Downey kicked the three penalties on offer to bring his side back into the game with a vengeance at 15-9. The last of these followed the dismissal of Ollie Renton for playing the ball on the ground.

After this silly headless-chicken period, Ilkley finally calmed down and with Renton back on, started to regain the control they had temporarily lost.

Another poor line-out was another chance lost, but then York’s Thorpe was yellow-carded and that was a decisive moment.

Kimber kicked the penalty to put Ilkley two scores ahead and from the kick off, one York fumble led to another as Kimber hacked the ball on and York were penalised from the second mis-field.

Ilkley opted for the scrum and the decision paid off as Brewer touched down.

To their credit, York tried their best to take the game to Ilkley, but time after time, the visitors’ defence stood firm and it was clear that they were determined not to let York score again.

Another hack though and another mis-field by York gave Cooper the chance to double his try tally from the base of the five-metre scrum, duly taken at pace, with Kimber adding the goal to finish the day’s scoring.

The last ten minutes saw Ilkley give York every opportunity to salvage something from a wretched afternoon, but it wasn’t to be and despite another depressingly-high penalty count against Ilkley, the score remained at 30-9 to the visitors.

The York staff and players were generous in defeat and Ilkley can be pleased with an outstanding win.

Saturday sees the first visit to Stacks Field of bottom-club Acklam who moved to Yorkshire One somewhat against their will.

Form would suggest a comfort- able home win and it is difficult to imagine any other result – but that may be tempting fate !