Ilkley 24 Castleford 27

A kind of hush fell over Stacks Field after this crazy defeat at the hands of Castleford.

Twenty minutes before the final whistle Ilkley had held a comfortable 24-5 lead and had squandered another four or five scoring opportunities.

It took a turnover ball to propel Cas back into the game.

A touch kick, a scrum and a couple of missed tackles allowed prop Stephen Johnson to barge his way over for a try. The conversion reduce the deficit to 24 - 12.

An Ilkley scrum turned over provided the next try scored by full back Jonny Bramham to make it 24-17.

A penalty brought them within one score and with the last play of the match Ilkley conceded a penalty then a scrum and allowed Chris Brown to charge up field and skip through two tacklers to feed Craig Fawcett for a score that secured the victory even without the conversion.

As they say in parliament, questions must be asked.

How could a game that looked so much under control slip out their grasp? Well, first and foremost they must learn the basics. Catching, passing and tackling were woeful.

Yes, the skill sets are there. They couldn’t have scored four tries and commanded the game for fully sixty minutes without them, but there is something missing.

Now coaches Hamish Pratt and Rhys Morgan have to have that spark and find it urgently.

For the record Ilkley scored four tries to secure a losing bonus point to go with the other bonus point for finishing within seven points of their opponents but that is no consolation for losing the game.

Ilkley’s first try, in reply to an opener from Cas' Danny Price when the Dalesmen were still asleep, was a superb effort from Pete Small from 35 metres out. The second was a well taken score in the corner by Tuli Makaafi. and the third from Christian Baines was scored from a trademark drive off a well won lineout.

Makaafi and Richard Greenfield combined well to give Bramham a clear run in from half way to add the fourth early in the second half.

When Cas started their fightback the Dalesmen should have been much furtherahead but instead they imploded. Full marks to Castleford for their never say die attitude.

Saturday’s trip to Bridlington no longer has the air of a day out at the seaside.