Ilkley 17 Birkenhead Park 16

THIS was no stroll in the park for the Dalesmen, as already relegated Birkenhead Park took the game to Ilkley and could easily have won it, had two eminently kickable penalties gone over.

When Ilkley had the ball in hand, they were always the better side. The problem was getting and retaining possession.

The first half was evenly contested, but the second half undoubtedly belonged to the men from the Wirral, who thoroughly deservedly their losing bonus point.

Only Ilkley's resolute defence kept them out and when referee Chris Bloomfield blew the final whistle, the sense of relief was palpable.

Stacks Field had received a real soaking in the hours before kick-off, but with the Wharfe low, drainage had been good and the playing surface held up.

Without the injured Ben Magee, Ilkley played Pat Atkinson at full-back, promoting Struan Connor from the bench to the left wing and shifting Tom Milner to centre.

A bright start from Ilkley yielded little. A nice run from Josh Hall eventually led to a five-metre scrum, duly won, but the ball was held up over the line.

Park opened the scoring when Ilkley's back were caught offside and stand-off Si Mason kicked the penalty.

Going behind clearly motivated the home side. A break by JH Johnson rom a scrum led to prop Ollie Holtham and Atkinson send Pat Power surging in for a try under the posts. Charles Morgan’s conversion made it 7-3 to Ilkley.

Any thoughts that the score would lead to the floodgates opening were quickly dispelled as scrum half Sam Childey made a break after a line-out and sent his half-back partner Mason running in for a try from a neat reverse pass. Mason's conversion made it 10-7.

Another break from a scrum by Johnson sparked Ilkley's second try. The ball was spun out right for Hall to score in the corner. Morgan's kick edged Ilkley 14-10 ahead.

The second half seemed to be an object lesson in how to retain ball from Park and a demonstration in the art of defending from Ilkley.

With their supply of set-piece ball drying up, Ilkley were on the ropes. Their lead was cut to a single point when Steve Burns was penalised for a high tackles and Mason's kick went over off the crossbar.

This rattled the home side and more unforced errors handed the advantage to Park, whose scrum was gradually getting on top.

A couple of lost line-outs didn’t help either, but crucially, replacement kicker Gaz Coy fluffed his lines badly, two penalty attempts drifting wide.

Ilkley’s next attack earned a penalty for a high tackle, but Morgan's goal was almost immediately cancelled out when Coy's next attempt went over after Ilkley had been penalised for another offside.

At 17-16 the increasingly restless crowd feared the worst, but despite another couple of knock-ons from both sides, Ilkley finished the match well.

Atkinson’s delightful run deserved better, ending deep into Park’s 22, but with a another loose pass not going to hand, that was it.