Ilkley 33 Wirral 37

BATTLING Ilkley put their selection worries to one side and made their promotion-chasing visitors work hard for their victory in a pulsating National League Three clash at Stacks Field.

The Dalesmen have a long injury list and, coupled with unavailabilities, they were forced to field an unfamiliar line-up, particularly in the backs.

Only a couple of unforced errors, some erratic passing, misdirected kicking and, crucially, a couple of missed tackles, did for them in the end.

They did earn two bonus points – a valuable commodity – and surely there will be better things to come if this kind of effort can be repeated.

Ricky Palacio, a second team stalwart, made his senior debut while Rob Rekis came in on the other wing with Charles Ramsey starting at stand-off.

The afternoon threatened to be as black as Ilkley's new kit when a poor clearance from the kick off put Wirral on the front foot. Some robust defence forced a Wirral handling error but Ilkley were pushed off the ball at the resulting scrum and the visitors scored the opening try.

The Dalesmen responded to the setback in positive style. From a line-out the Ilkley pack produced some of the best phases of the season to put Palacio in for a try. Skipper Joe Rowntree's conversion edged his side into a 7-5 lead.

They extended their advantage when they disrupted a Wirral scrum and prop Ollie Holtam bagged the try which Rowntree converted.

The Cheshire side hit back by putting the Ilkley scrum under pressure and forcing a penalty. Two successive scrums were called and an unconverted try made it 14-10.

Weak tackling was exploited as Wirral ran in their third try to edge 15-14 ahead.

Poor passing thwarted any chance of a response before half-time on a numbingly cold afternoon.

Wirral came out for the second half fired up and had the Dalesmen on the defensive for fully seven minutes. Eventually the rearguard effort was breached with a converted try under the sticks.

It looked now like Wirral would turn the screw but Ilkley were having nothing of that. A wonderful attack from deep in their own half and sublime passing through several pairs of hands saw Palacio, Hutchinson and finally Morgan combine to score under the sticks at the other end. 21-22.

Wirral hit back from deep after Ilkley's foray was frustrated by a knock on. Then came a bit of a turning point. Wirral were attacking wide out left. Ilkley were defending for their lives. Elliott Morgan came out of the line to intercept but knocked on. Morgan was yellow carded and Wirral took full advantage by scoring two tries and adding one conversion while the home side were a man short.

The Dalesmen refused to throw in the towel and their efforts were rewarded when they scored their fourth try from a melee close to the line.

With Morgan restored and Wirral on the back foot another unforced error gave the visitors an easy penalty to make it 37-28.

With Wirral reduced to 14 men following a yellow card offence, Ilkley pounced. An injudicious kick to touch saw Ilkley set up a drive from the line-out which led to Palacio's second try which earned the losing bonus point and brought to an end a rousing encounter.

The Dalesmen's 2nd XV saw off a tenacious Old Brods 40-14 in a friendly match.