Howden Clough 1 Ilkley Town 2

After Wednesday evening at Pool, Ilkley had the opportunity to prove they had the character to bounce back at Howden Clough in their West Yorkshire League Division One clash.

The pitch was uneven and on a slight slope with a strong cross wind and their opponents were undefeated.

The game started at a frantic pace with both teams competitive and working hard to pressure their opponents.

Ilkley had the better of the opening exchanges and were finding joy with the ball in between the centre half and the full back.

Richard Schofield had the best chance of the opening 15 minutes but he lofted his shot over an open goal.

After 20 minutes the movement of Danny Bott and Adam Fowler allowed the latter space wide on the left.

Fowler left the centre half trailing as he cut along the goalline before calmly putting the ball in the path of Bott who slotted home.

Matt Tolleson found space in midfield and freed Bott. His whipped cross was met with a diving header by Fowler which flew just wide.

Ilkley were looking comfortable but they were in for a shock just before half-time.

The Howden Clough centre forward appeared to be offside when he received the ball.

His miscued shot found its way to the far post for a tap in for the left winger.

The second half started like the first, with a high intensity.

Within ten minutes of the restart Ilkley were back in front, Ben Dexter working hard to win a corner.

Schofield whipped in the ball and found the head of Fowler who planted his effort into the net.

Soon after, the Howden goalkeeper was called into action to make a fine save from Fowler.

With ten minutes left, Fowler found himself clear and one on one with the Howden goalkeeper, who made a fine save.

The ball spun back into Fowler’s stride and he appeared to have the simplest of tasks to tap into the net.

Unfortunately Fowler didn’t make a clean contact with the ball and struck the post with the danger then being cleared.

The game became bad tempered in the closing stages as the players became frustrated by the decisions of the referee.

Ross Hutchison reacted to a number of poor challenges with one of his own. It culminated in Hutchison being placed in a headlock and surrounded by Howden players.

Both players should have been sent off and a number of others cautioned.

Unfortunately, Hutchison received the first red card of his career and the Howden left back only a yellow.