Ilkley 20 Hull 6

THE Dalesmen finally came good,after three successive defeats to reach the third round of the Yorkshire Cup.

The stereotypical November weather did its utmost to disrupt proceedings, causing a wince inducing number of handling errors from both sides, but Ilkley’s dominance of the first half ensured a victory that those witnessing the early-season loss at Hull could scarcely contemplate.

Ilkley scored the only two tries, both by centre Steve Nolson, whose commitment to the cause saw him have his best match of the season.

Not far behind was prop Josh Cockerham, whose tackle-count was truly awesome and which typified the resolve of the entire side.

Ilkley dominated the opening 15 minutes and went ahead when Joe Rowntree landed a penalty from in front of the posts.

The surprisingly large crowd didn’t have long to wait for the next score. Following a raking kick from the returning Josh Kimber, which took Ilkley deep into the opposition 22, Hull made a mess of their line-out.

Rowntree threw out a speculative long pass to Kimber who then offloaded to the supporting Nolson to go near the posts. Rowntree landed the conversion.

A little lapse of concentration and suspect tackling allowed first lock Joe Stafford to make ground and then Jay Goodison.

When the scrum-half was finally halted, Ilkley transgressed and the number nine popped over his side’s only score of the half. Rowntree then had a penalty blow just wide.

Suitably encouraged by the miss, back surged Hull, but Ilkley won a difficult ball from a line-out in their own 22 and Rowntree threw out a risky pass.

No 8 Nick Carolan managed to get onto the end of it and gave the ball a mighty hoof that carried to Hull’s 22. The defence tried to run it out, but the ball was spilled. The onrushing Nolson hacked on and won the race to touch down. Rowntree's conversion made it 17-3 at the break.

The second half was one for the purists – or fanatics. A stygian gloom descended on the valley and down came the rain.

No surprise then that despite the valiant efforts of both sides to play some enterprising rugby, handling errors abounded and the only scores came from the boots of Rowntree and Goodison.

Hull’s three points came after the Ilkley backs were caught offside when their pack lost a rare strike against the head and the score remained at 17-6 for the next 20 minutes.

In the dying light, it was possibly better not to be able see much of the last quarter of the game, as the elements took over. There was a moment of bravery when Gus Ramsey put his body on the line to clear up an Ilkley mess. Coach Rhys Morgan started to use his replacements and Ilkley regained their dominance.

The last ten minutes were all Ilkley’s and it came as no surprise when Rowntree completed the day’s scoring when Hull collapsed a scrum under their own posts.