Hartshead 3 Ilkley Town 1

ILKLEY were made to pay for missed chances as they suffered a West Yorkshire League Premier Division defeat at Cleckheaton.

The tone for an encounter played on a heavy pitch was set in the opening minutes.

Adam Davey flashed a header just wide from Joe Garside's free-kick and shortly after, Harry Higgins had a goal-bound effort cleared off the line.

Hartshead punished their visitors when Ben Smith found space out wide on the counter, before cutting into the box and firing low under James Hirst.

Ilkley hit back minutes later when centre back James Wilson squeezed home a spot kick after Toby Harris was fouled in the box by keeper Danny Thompson.

The visitors continued to press forward, with Davey striking a post, before Hartshead went ahead again minutes before the break.

Liam Fox provided the finish after another strong counter attack.

Hartshead extended their lead in the second half when Smith dispatched a penalty with precision.

The hosts could have easily had a fourth before the end. Stuart McCallum hit the post with a nice curling effort and substitute Nick Robinson just failed to convert the follow-up.

Ilkley manager Simon Armstrong, claimed his side were not tough enough to win the match.

He said: "I am quite frustrated. In the first half we stuck to the game plan, knowing it would be difficult since they are undefeated at home, but then in the second half we didn't show the same resilience and looked intimidated at times.

"The pitch wasn't great, but we have to adapt to that and do better".

The defeat means that Ilkley are now virtually out of the title race, and Armstrong is keen to focus on other priorities for the rest of the season.

"Honestly, we may have been out of the title picture before today, but now we have too much ground to make up" he said.