ILKLEY romped to a comfortable 27-0 win at North One East strugglers Durham City over the weekend to move five points off the summit with a game in hand.

On a wet and miserable day, the hosts were applauded by Ilkley for their off-pitch hospitality, though unfortunately for Durham, that extended to the 80 minutes on the field too.

The visitors raced into a 22-0 half-time lead, but that fourth try and bonus point looked like it was going to prove elusive.

But Ilkley kept going, and were rewarded when Will Addyman crossed the whitewash with eight minutes to go to secure a vital five-point victory.

Charles Ramsey cracked an easy early penalty over the posts to make it 3-0 to the away side.

Addyman then fed scrum-half Jack Maplesden off the back of a set-piece, and he in turn found JH Johnson.

Johnson was not going to be stopped from 20 metres out, and he stormed over to make it 8-0 after 15 minutes.

A yellow card for Ilkley winger Jack Brown stunted their progress somewhat, before a blistering end to the half put the result beyond doubt.

Some Durham errors, coupled with astute kicking from Ilkley, helped the visitors into the opposition 22, and they took full advantage.

A solid lineout set Kristian Dobson up to burst through one tackle, and spin out of another, to score under the posts. Ramsey converted to make it 15-0 after 37 minutes.

And Ilkley were not done with the first-half scoring either.

Ramsey charged down a clearance kick, and the ball bounced perfectly for him to gather it in and score. He converted his own try to make it 22-0 at the break.

The rain got worse in the second half, making the game more difficult, and Ilkley struggled, with only some determined defence preventing Durham from opening their own account.

Ilkley got close on a couple of occasions, but they eschewed a couple of scrum opportunities near the posts and opted for lineouts which failed to come off.

But that pressure eventually told, with Addyman picking the ball up off the back of the ruck.

His strength and determination saw him drive over a defender's prone body to score that crucial fourth try.

With leaders Driffield only managing four points in their 23-10 win at Pocklington, fourth-placed Ilkley closed the gap at the top, and still have that game against mid-table Scarborough in hand.

The Dalesmen are also behind Old Brodleians and Heath, but like Driffield, those two have also played 13 games to Ilkley's 12.