Dalesmen share spoils after purple patch

Ilkley’s delightful Stacks Field ground was clothed in slightly grey autumnal weather and watched over by the venerable Cow and Calf at one end and the splendour of Middelton Woods at the other. Autumnal colours were everywhere. They were perfectly colour-matched by Morpeth’s purple jerseys.

Morpeth got the match underway under the watchful eyes of referee Stuart Dillon from London Society who was making his second appearance at Stacks Field. The Dalesmen looked inventive from the start, running the ball from deep and earning a penalty on the visitors’ ten metre line. The reliable Peter Shanks stepped up and slotted the goal.

A penalty on the Ilkley 22 saved a powerful Morpeth riposte and put the Dalesmen back on the attack. They spun the ball wide to the spritely Chris Weatherby, whose powerful run and chip and chase looked to have earned him a score. Mr Dillon thought otherwise and Morpeth escaped with a 22 drop out.

The men in purple were not out of danger though and Ilkley piled on the pressure, thwarted once by a turnover ball close in, then by a penalty for holding on. This was better than the Ilkley faithful had witnessed for a while and for 15 minutes it was all Ilkley.

Weatherby’s confidence was growing stronger with every touch but, with a man inside and a clear view of the line his pass was a tad wayward.

Ilkley had another penalty goal attempt. This time Shanks was just wide from wide and long.

Pete Turner got an early call from the bench as Tom Hebditch was forced off with blurred vision. A quarter of the game gone and the decibel levels from the grandstand were taking on a new tone and getting right behind this much improved effort from their side.

It seemed predictable that the wind would be taken out of their sails. Having beaten Morpeth to one of their line-outs, the ball was spun out to Chad Shepperd but he found himself isolated and then penalised for holding on. Morpeth’s excellent kicker Matt Jinks slotted a great goal from a long way out to level matters.

Now it was end to end stuff with both sides looking to find that bit of enterprise to break the deadlock. Ilkley were certainly in control and were getting the benefit of Mr Dillon’s eagle eye, a rare change from the norm.

It was a penalty on Morpeth’s 22 against flanker Richie Armstrong that put Ilkley ahead again. That reliable old boot earned the Dalesmen yet another three points.

Inevitably, Morpeth came back strongly and looked to be getting the upper hand in final eight minutes or so. However, Ilkley’s defence was good with the threat being contained on or around the 22 metre line. Relief came with another penalty.

The kick to touch was all that was needed but Morpeth winger Simon Manley skilfully kept the ball in play as the Ilkley touch judge first put the flag up but sportingly lowered it again as soon as he had seen his error. The ball was spun wide to the far wing, recycled and out again to centre Paul Mooney, who had been on Otley’s professional books until into last season. Now an amateur, he displayed great professionalism in breaking two tackles to charge in and score under the posts. Jinks converted to make it 10-6 to the men from the far North at half-time.

This was a real nail-biter and the second period was to have the crowd enthralled. The intensity of the first-half continued with both sides showing they wanted to win. Both sides were making mistakes at vital moments and Morpeth’s propensity to offend the referee continued to the growing frustration of their supporters.

At last Mr Dillon was forced to resort to the sin-bin as Armstrong went one offence too far. Now, for a change, Ilkley were playing against 14 men. A great line-out drive took them close but a penalty cost them that chance. The Ilkley scrum, solid all day won a couple of good balls and assisted by two more penalties they camped on Morpeth's line. Drive after drive was repelled until finally Jason Billows battered his way over for the try. Peter Shanks did the business from the touchline and Ilkley had a slender lead.

There were still 27 minutes to go and there was a real game on here. It was end-to-end stuff with Morpeth now looking more likely to score. A sweeping move across the field looked to have put David Lynn in but his inside pass was nudged forward on the line.

Ilkley scrambled clear. Now the intensity grew. Pete Turner showed his turn of speed with three dazzling runs down the right wing. Dan Wright, a rock at lock and his new colleague in the second row Hamish Pratt were making their presence felt and the back row of Charlie Cudworth, Iain McKenzie and Billows was everywhere.

Then tragedy. An Ilkley line-out was well won and the ball spun wide to Shepperd but again he found himself isolated and conceded the penalty that enabled Morpeth’s Jinks (Ilkley’s jinx) from long range to level the scores at 13 all.

That was the end of the scoring but certainly not the end of the game. The crowd was treated to more end-to-end rugby with both sides playing some solid stuff. Both sides felt disappointed not to have snatched the win but Ilkley can be well satisfied and in context the draw in the end felt like a win.

It must have been disappointing for new front row signing John Oakes or second row Rich Gray not to get on the field but it was impossible to change things with the game so delicately balanced. Both will surely feature in Ilkley’s line up in the fullness of time.

l This week Old Crossleyans are the hosts as Ilkley travel to Stainland, Halifax, for yet another league match. Kick-off is at 3pm.