Ilkley 3 Firwood Waterloo 11

TWO hundred years ago, heavy rain had softened up a battlefield in Belgium the night before a mighty exchange involving Europe's superpowers and the waterlogged ground heavily influenced the outcome.

Last Saturday, Stacks Field suffered a similar drenching, but no Prussian cavalry arrived to save the day and Ilkley went down in their first-ever meeting with Waterloo.

The Lancashire outfit had a savvy pack, which just about had the edge over their hosts' eight. This is not to say that the visitors had things totally their own way - far from it. Ilkley stole two or three of Waterloo's line-outs and their mauling was the equal to the opposition's.

It was perhaps a different matter in the backs, where the Dalesmen's tried and trusted line edged the contest. But this was not a day for crisp handling moves from either side.

It took a considerable amount of probing from the teams before the first penalty was awarded to Waterloo.

A kick to touch was the option chosen, rather than taking the points. Ilkley won the opposition line-out and the ball went to JH Johnson, whose kick went straight out.

Ilkley then enjoyed an enterprising, but fruitless ten minutes and the frustration turned to dismay. An unfortunate ricochet from a clearance kick was picked up in an offside position by Ilkley and the Waterloo defence mauled forwards towards the halfway line.

Ilkley strayed offside on the halfway line and Liam Reeve this time opted for a kick at goal to open the scoring.

At 3-0 down, Ilkley swarmed back into the attack, led by the excellent Nick Carolan and Pat Power. The latter's 50m break ran out of support in Waterloo's 22, but it was all Ilkley at this stage.

Then disaster struck. Waterloo broke out and hacked the ball into the Ilkley half. This was tidied up well, but then prop Dan Lawrence, who had done a great job getting back in the first place, kicked the ball straight into the arms or onrushing lock Rob Bramhall.

Having overcome his surprise, Bramhall rifled the ball deep into the Ilkley 22. Winger Matt Crowe scooped the ball off the ground with aplomb to stretch the lead to 8-0 with the game's only try.

Down, but not out, Ilkley won a penalty that Kimber stroked to within five metres of the line. Ilkley lost their own line-out but recovered the ball and won a scrum. They then lost their own put-in and that was it for the first half.

Both sides disappeared off the field to warm up, but oddly, neither side changed their kit. This was to be something of an embarrassment, as the dirty kits made identification difficult for all concerned.

A long second half saw Ilkley in the ascendency for the first ten minutes. A fine run by Lawrence was halted, but when Waterloo pulled down the maul, Joe Rowntree reduced the gap to five points.

Handling became even more difficult and there were spilled balls galore. Now the Waterloo pack decided enough was enough and used their rolling maul to great effect, if only to wind down the clock.

Having awarded a penalty against Ilkley, just ten metres from the posts, Elliot Morgan and Mark Murray were give ten minutes in the sin bin.

Having conceded the three points, Ilkley needed two scores to win and one for a losing bonus point.

Back came the Ilkley attack, with Ryan Cooper spinning the ball out to the backs and kicking well for position. One move broke down when the final pass to the support was far too high and then came a crucial moment.

Waterloo offended in the tackle five metres out and JH Johnson took a quick tap. He failed to get over the line, but Ilkley rucked well and the ball flashed out wide, with more than a sniff of an overlap. Ilkley spilled the ball in midfield and the chance was gone.

As night fell, referee Dave Charlton blew for time and both teams again sought the sanctuary of their changing-rooms.

Could the Dalesmen have won this game? Possibly, on a drier day. Could they have snatched a losing bonus-point? Definitely.