ILKLEY manager, Simon Armstrong, has been ringing the praises for his Ilkley side after their recent surge in form.

Following a tricky start to life in Step Six football, where points were hard to come by, Town are beginning to find some rhythm and have now accumulated a total of 13 points from as many games.

In recent weeks, the Bah’tatters have shown their worth, just being edged out by table toppers AFC Blackpool in a 2-1 scoreline, battling to a 3-3 draw at a much-improved Campion and last week thrashing Cleator Moor Celtic 5-1.

And Armstrong is delighted with his side’s change in fortunes.

He said: “With how it has gone, I’m really pleased with the start we’ve made to life in Step Six football.

“We had a lot of challenges at the start of the campaign with personnel, availability, suspensions, injuries and Covid. It’s probably one of the most difficult and challenging starts that we’ve had to a football season as a club for five or six years.

“And obviously it came at the worst possible time, at the start of Step Six football, but they are the challenges that exist in semi-professional football.

“We are pleased that we’ve got a good-sized squad, with strength in depth, which allowed us to be competitive in those earlier games.

“We probably didn’t get the results we deserved at times, but we are now starting to get those results that our performances warrant, which I’m very pleased with.

“We are becoming more consistent with personnel, more consistent with performances and we are starting to get more tuned into the level and expectations that comes with semi-professional football.”

Armstrong added: “We are not naïve enough to think we can continue like this week in and week out. There will be setbacks, there will be other challenges, but we are certainly on the right path now.

“There is still two thirds of the season to go and there is a lot of tough teams to play in that period, so we need to remain focused and continue to push on, but definitely impressed with my side’s development. “

Ilkley return to action on Saturday when they travel to Pilkington, who currently find themselves in a respectable fourth in the league.

Despite Pilkington challenging near the top, Armstrong believes his side have nothing to fear.

He said: “Pilkington are a very good team, hence why they are challenging near the top of the table.

“But we do not have anything to be scared of. We are in great vein of form, and we are playing with a lot of confidence.

“Obviously we expect a tough challenge, whether it’s through their pressing game or their highly attacking brand of football, we expect a challenge but it’s one we are prepared for.

“We just need to ensure our standards don’t drop and that we continue to play the way we’ve been playing and if we do that, we have nothing to fear.”