INJURY-plagued Ilkley Town lost 2-1 to a well-organised Hunslet on Saturday.

Ilkley had a few chances along with a nicely built up goal, but Hunslet’s ability to constantly pressurise was too much for Town to handle.

From the start, Hunslet showed their impressive form at home with a brace of shots, which were denied by keeper Adam Montague-Millar.

This was followed by a pair of shots by Hunslet’s Adam Simpson, which both resulted from some defensive errors by Ilkley.

The deadlock was broken in the 25th minute when Kyle Swithenbenk was on the receiving end of a through ball. He controlled it and calmly slotted the ball across the goal into the bottom corner.

This lapse in concentration caused Ilkley heads to drop. For the remainder of the half, they were dominated, struggling to string three passes together before giving the ball away. In the last 15 minutes, Town struggled to get out of their own half.

The second half began as the first half had ended when a Hunslet free-kick was whipped with pace towards the roof of the net, where it was narrowly saved by the outstretching hand of Montague-Millar.

Hunslet had another free-kick from 25 yards out, and instead of shooting they played a through ball, catching the Ilkley back line off guard, and Kieran Corley drove the ball into the bottom right hand corner from a tight angle

Ilkley made a double substitution, started to keep possession for longer and broke the deadlock with a team goal finished off by Tom Smith.

Substitute Ben Atkinson skipped past a defender to cut inside on the byline. Atkinson then dragged the ball back towards the six-yard box where both teams fumbled with the ball. Eventually it landed at the feet of Smith who rifled a shot that was cleared off the line by a defender. However, Smith was ready for the rebound and slid the ball home, past the stranded keeper.

For the final 15 minutes, both teams resorted to counter-attacking football, with numerous chances for both sides, but for Ilkley, it was too little too late.

The full-time result saw Hunslet climb up to third in the division while Ilkley stayed in second,

Ilkley host Burley Trojans this Saturday in the Wharfedale and District FA Cup.

MATTHEW LAMBE