Old Headingley 2 Ilkley Town 3

Ilkley Town hung-on for a deserved victory in the League Cup against Division Two league leaders Old Headingley.

Two second-half goals by Damian Smith overturned a 2-1 half-time deficit, in a match that was a superb advertisement for West Yorkshire League football.

To be behind at the break was a big blow for Ilkley because they dominated possession and territory in the first half and scored the opening goal with a passing move of high quality.

An alert start by Ilkley saw shots by Danny Henderson and Rob McKenzie fly over the bar before a 12-pass move saw Ilkley take the lead after 15 minutes .

Dave Hancock’s precision ball sent Mark Houlston running beyond the last defender and he placed his shot across goal beyond the dive of goalkeeper Lang and into the net off the far-post.

For the next ten minutes, Ilkley tore the home team’s defence apart and Smith might have done better with a near post flick from Danny Bott’s fine cross, before McKenzie, Tom Rennolds and Henderson had chances to add to the score.

Somehow Old Headingley then scored two goals in a 15-minute period completely against the run-of-play yet both were fine examples of counter attack finishes. As Harrington burst through a midfield tackle, Anderson timed his run perfectly to avoid the Ilkley offside trap and clip the ball past James Hirst.

As Ilkley players sought to take advantage of their dominance, the lesson of the previous week went unheeded as a throw in near Old Headingley’s penalty-area was rushed and the home team broke at speed an Austin swept home Anderson’s cross.

A bizarre half-time score for llkley and a test of collective resolve against a team that is enjoying a resurgence of form in Division Two.

Thankfully, Ilkley players responded to the challenge and equalised after 55 minutes when Trimnell sent man-of-the-match Bott racing down the right wing and his cross found Houlston whose flick was stopped on the goal-line only for Smith to smack the loose ball past Lang.

A header by Andy Bloom from Henderson’s corner was cleared off the line before Smith scored his second after 70 minutes. He stole ahead of his marker to glance a header past Lang from Henderson’s cross.

Old Headingley applied pressure in the final ten minutes and Hirst did well to save with his legs from Austin.

The final whistle signalled a fine victory and a pleasing display by Ilkley who face another tough challenge on Saturday against Hartshead (2.30pm) at Ben Rhydding.