Rochdale 12 Ilkley 21

ILKLEY completed their first double of the season as they moved into third place in North East One with a display which warmed the hearts of their hardy followers who had to contend with a nitheringly cold wind.

The Dalesmen produced an outstanding first-half performance which negated the climatic conditions and provided the foundations for their victory.

Player coach Stevie Graham was forced to watch from the sidelines due to injury while prop John Cooksey was replaced by Josh Cockerham. The powerful James Spencer was joined on the bench by Paul Petchey and Johnny Yale.

The first 20 minutes were scoreless due largely to the weather, but gradually Ilkley stated to gain the upper hand. A minor injury to Will Coates gave sub Spencer his opportunity and he soon made his presence felt.

He won a line-out which set up the Ilkley forwards for a trundle towards the Rochdale line. The home side caved in under the pressure and conceded a penalty under the posts which Josh Kimber converted.

Rochdale tried to take the game back to Ilkley until a loose ball was scooped up by the alert Steve Nolson who made 50 metres in a mazy run.

The ball was perfectly set up for the Ilkley support and eventually the ubiquitous Pete Small fed young winger Ben Magee who scored in the corner. The wind put paid to Kimber’s kick, but Ilkley were 8-0 up.

Rochdale, who started the day ahead of Ilkley in the table, and showed why when Ilkley lost their own scrum. Stand-off James Duffy put in a delicate chip over the Ilkley defence and a bit of indecision allowed the on-rushing Rochdale backs to put centre Josh Schofield over in the corner.

Ilkley stormed back from the kick-off and suddenly they had an eight- point lead again. A great take by Spencer set up a maul that enabled Tom Collard to send Kimber crashing over the line to reinforce Ilkley’s growing superiority. Kimber’s conversion attempt fell agonisingly short.

This superiority was underlined as the visitors’ relentless pressure forced their hosts to concede a penalty under the posts which Kimber slotted to give his side a 16-5 half time lead.

The second half seemed to be even more dominated by the wind, with both sides making several errors that would not normally occur. The first 20 minutes of the half belonged to Rochdale in terms of possession, but the stalwart Ilkley defence held out and no score was conceded.

Into the last quarter, Ilkley finally relieved their lines with a great penalty kick into touch by Kimber. The visiting forwards took full advantage, winning the line-out and mauling their way towards the line before releasing the ball to Tom Collard who scored. Kimber’s scuffed kick didn’t trouble the touch-judges.

Ilkley had a comfortable 21-5 lead but they weren't quite home and dry. Rochdale battled to the end and when Ilkley conceded a penalty, flanker Ross Hartley was on hand to take a short pass from skipper Rob Neave to score close enough to the posts to allow James Duffy to reduce the arrears to 21-12.

Despite some tantalisingly close runs by Paul Petchey and the battling J-H Johnson, the bonus point try didn’t come. The final few minutes saw Ilkley take a pragmatic approach and run the clock down to emerge worthy winners.