ILKLEY are in buoyant mood for Saturday's North One East trip to Rochdale following their hard-earned win over leaders Sheffield.

The 20-16 victory stretched their unbeaten record at fortress Stacks Field to 23 games and it set them up nicely for the second half of the season.

Coach Rhys Morgan was immensely proud of his players after they defended resolutely in the final five minutes after yellow cards for Josh Kimber and Steve Burns had reduced them to 13 men.

"It was a tremendous effort from the whole team," said Morgan. "Our defence was magnificent and stood up to all Sheffield could throw at it, and we took our chances when they came along.

"The two tries were scored were executed perfectly. It was was pleasing that we took the opportunities so well when they presented themselves."

Morgan added: "It wasn't a faultless performance because we made handling errors and turned over a lot of ball, but it was a really dogged effort in what was a tough match."

One of the try scorers was experienced centre Alastair Monks. He returned to the side in the absence of James Crossley and made his presence felt.

"Monko is an important figure for us," said Morgan. He organises our drift defence and he also proved that he is alert when a try-scoring chance presents itself."

Ilkley's selectors will have some tough decisions to make when they meet tonight. Crossley and second row James Spencer are both available after missing the Sheffield clash.

Morgan said: "Now that the injury problems have eased we have depth in our squad. Our second team won at Sheffield last week and there are a lot of players in that team knocking at the first team door."