SSE North One East

Sheffield 24 Ilkley 21

ILKLEY suffered heartbreak at Abbeydale.

Having never been behind, they succumbed to an injury-time try to lose by three points.

The losing bonus point was a little crumb of comfort, but Ilkley know that this was a game they gifted to their hosts.

Injuries and unavailabilities meant that the Dalesmen turned out with an entirely different back row from that which mastered Percy Park the week before.

Wingman Paul Petchey was also away but J-H Johnstone made a welcome return in his place.

Ilkley had the best of starts when Sheffield failed to control the ball from Ilkley’s kick-off and, before many of the crowd had taken their places, the visitors were 7-0 up as Charlie Davy finished off a great team move under the posts, Josh Kimber adding the goal.

The visitors were very aggressive, both in attack and defence, and Kimber’s break on halfway line led to the ball being moved to Johnstone, who was high-tackled by Sheffield prop Tommy Marples, who was promptly carded. The penalty was kicked into touch but the line-out was lost and Sheffield cleared.

Now it was the hosts' turn to apply some pressure but this was soaked up by the Ilkley defence, and notably by young James Colclough.

Then Ilkley lost another line-out but, from the resulting scrum, Sheffield No 8 Jonny France knocked on and Ilkley cleared with a counter-attack. When the Sheffield tackler held on to his man too long, Kimber slotted the penalty to give his side a 10-0 lead.

Sheffield full back Andy Hodgson missed a difficult attempt moments later but his side were by now well into the game after their early surprise.

Nevertheless, Ilkley’s defence continued to hold out and Ben Magee’s superb clearance kick was followed up by a crunching tackle on the Sheffield defender. Ilkley then offended at the breakdown and immediately found themselves back in their own 22.

With the half-time whistle imminent, Sheffield’s pressure eventually told when, after a series of penalties and lost line-outs, prop Marples crashed over in the corner. The kick was missed and the score remained 10-5 to Ilkley.

The visitors again started the second half well, throwing everything they had at their opponents, and, after just five minutes, Colclough set up the move from which Ryan Cooper touched down in the corner, Kimber narrowly missing the conversion.

A scrappy period of play followed and Ilkley’s discipline faltered a little when Will Coates was judged to have late-tackled the Sheffield right wing, who had kicked ahead.

The home side opted to take the penalty from where the ball landed and, from the resulting line-out, rumbled over courtesy of France. However, another poor kick kept the score at 15-10.

Kimber was having a much better day than his opposite number and notched another three points from long range as the game entered the final quarter.

The Sheffield forwards were in no mood to capitulate though and came straight back at Ilkley, rucking and mauling their way to yet another close-range try that Hodgson did manage to convert and make it 18-17 with a nail-biting finish on the cards.

Two fine Ilkley attacks were spoiled by sloppy line-out work but, after a fine break by Steve Nolson, Kimber was given an easy chance as the Sheffield backs drifted offside and Ilkley’s lead increased to 21-17.

Then in a mirror-image of the opening minute, Ilkley messed up the kick-off and Sheffield took full advantage, forcing Ilkley to concede a penalty as injury time started ticking.

The kick to touch gave Sheffield a line-out, which they won easily and Ilkley were forced to defend wave after wave of Sheffield attacks.

This seemed to last an eternity, the Sheffield pack controlling the ball well and the Ilkley defence tackling like demons.

But eventually the dam was breached and, to the delight of the Sheffield faithful, lock Alex Fawdrey was awarded the touchdown. Hodgson’s successful kick was irrelevant as Ilkley heads dropped.

After three league matches this season, one thing has become abundantly clear – you need a big pack.

Ilkley conceded four tries, all of which can be attributed to very good ball control in those close encounters near to the goal line. This is not to say that Ilkley’s defence was poor – far from it : the tackle count was immense.

What can be improved is the line-out, which was very poor indeed, Ilkley losing seven of their own throws.

Ilkley’s next two matches are against teams lying below their own modest tenth placing – Rochdale at home and Horden away.

Having lost just two games last season, the Dalesmen have the chance to improve their position considerably, and with the return of one or two of the more seasoned forwards, should climb up this hard league.

* Ilkley Seconds recorded their first Yorkshire Premiership win, defeating a good Sheffield Seconds 21-20 at Stack's Field.

The visitors came to play running rugby, and scored three tries to below-strength Ilkley's two, but it wasn't enough.

Ed Brown and Andy Malley scored Ilkley's tries, with the latter also contributing three penalties and a conversion.