Waterloo 15 Ilkley 13

HOW the Dalesmen came home with just a solitary losing bonus point from their National League Three North clash is almost beyond belief.

As the enthralling game entered the dying minutes it looked as though Ilkley had weathered a last desperate wave of home attacks to secure a vital victory.

They had cleared to halfway and forced a mistake from the home side. A scrum appeared to be manna from heaven as Ilkley had dominated the set pieces throughout.

After the first attempt had been wheeled, Ilkley won the second and seemed safe with the ball in JH Johnson's hands, but the front rows collapsed and the referee surprisingly penalised the Dalesmen.

It was a puzzling decision as there was no reason why the Dalesmen would want to collapse the scrum.

Waterloo kicked to the corner and attacked from the line-out. Desperate defence kept them at bay but at the expense of a yellow card for full back Ben Magee.

The home side made the most of their man advantage. They opted for another line-out and used the possession to stretch the Ilkley defence before flanker Erwin Marderwald came into the line to strike the killer blow and level the scores.

Liam Reeve floated the conversion on the breeze through the uprights to deliver his club four valuable league points and sentence Ilkley to a cruel defeat.

The Dalesmen thought they had done enough in a game that ebbed and flowed and had everything in terms of intensity and commitment.

There were flashes of brilliance, a host of unforced errors and grit and determination from the visitors, but once again they were forced to expend a serious amount of energy on defence.

Ilkley had opened up strongly and took a 3-0 lead with a fifth-minute penalty from skipper Joe Rowntree.

The first Waterloo attacking wave was repelled after they rejected the chance to kick for goal. However, it was a indication of their game plan.

Back came the Dalesmen, attacking up the left. JH Johnson made ground and slipped a lovely pass to Lewis Johnston to charge through from the 22 to score. Rowntree converted to establish a 10-0 lead.

A Reeve opened Waterloo's account with a penalty and winger Jake Allen followed up with a try as the home side cut the deficit to two points.

The ten minutes to half-time saw the men in green build on the momentum and only stubborn defence and the odd unforced error kept them out.

Coach Rhys Morgan couldn't really have asked for more, but 40 more minutes of seriously hard rugby were required. Young Ben Bealey replaced Nathan Smith and it was much of the same in the second period with Ilkley looking stronger in attack, particularly when deploying the rolling maul.

They went agonisingly close several times but Waterloo's defence were up to the test.

Ilkley looked to have been handed a golden opportunity to seal the game when they were awarded a penalty and Waterloo had a player yellow carded. Ilkley had confidence in the rolling maul and drive but they lost the line-out.

Ben Magee set up a great chance with a dazzling run and chip and chase but he couldn't gather.

Waterloo made the most of the let offs when they struck at the death to snatch victory.