Ilkley are upwardly mobile at last

The victory that finally earned them their place in the play-offs was a one point triumph at Selby, snatched from the jaws of defeat.

The Dalesmen needed a win on Saturday to boost both their league position and confidence. They achieved those aims while maintaining their unbeaten league record against Selby.

In the event the win was secured by three tries to two but the squandering of a bonus point and the implementation of a five point deduction for fielding an unregistered player left Ilkley in the bottom two, rivals Dinnington having put York to the sword in an unpredictable but comprehensive win.

There is a long way to go yet but Ilkley must build on this win and work on eliminating the unnecessary mistakes that are costing them dear.

Ilkley led 11-0 at half-time courtesy of a Stuart Vincent try scored after Tuli Makaafi had set up a good move from a loose Selby kick into Ilkley’s 22.

Vincent finished the flowing move with his trademark chip and chase to score.

Peter Shanks added a penalty shortly after and another one just on the stroke of half time.

However, it was a pretty even half with Selby exerting early pressure but not finding a way through a solid Ilkley defence.

The propensity to concede penalties throughout the half was a concern and the Dalesmen can consider themselves fortunate that experienced whistle blower Brian Mulligan did not produce a yellow card or two!.

His refereeing of the breakdown was consistent and regular. But you wonder if the players understand the laws?

It was to Selby’s chagrin that they lost a player to a yellow card.

Ilkley rubbed salt in their wounds by taking full advantage of their numerical advantage to score two tries, one from the back of a driving maul from a line-out scored by Hamish Pratt and one from a scrum driven over.

Both these came as a result of superior scrummaging and line-out work, an area where the home side had the upper hand throughout.

John Oakes, Leon Treco and the ageless man of the match, big Jon Hutchinson restored some equilibrium following the loss at Sheffield.

Dan Wright and Peter Small controlled the front of the line-out.

With their lead well set at the break the half time oranges must have had a distracting effect.

A mistake on halfway put them on the back foot and then a scrum on the 22 allowed the impressive Matthew Wood to pick up, look up and, finding no one at home in defence stroll through to score under the posts.

Young Iain Adamson, another in that great rugby playing Selby dynasty, slotted the conversion to give the Dalesmen and their supporters a nervous few minutes before they regained their composure to put on a much better third quarter display that resulted in the two tries converted by Shanks.

However this couldn’t be an Ilkley home game without last-minute flutters. With ten minutes to go Ilkley – just like the Castleford match – had the game won, and were pressing for the fourth and vital bonus point try Suddenly they were penalised for feeding the scrum which was mystifying given their domination of the set pieces.

The try-scoring opportunity was lost and two penalties later Selby coughed up the ball to give Ilkley a relieving scrum inside their own half.

Incredibly they were penalised for feeding the scrum again. Two penalties later and Selby had scored a try and the Dalesmen had to withstand five minutes of fairly torrid times keeping the visitors out.

In the end the win was secured, nd Ilkley must now count this as a major step on the way back up the table.

They will look to continue the momentum when they visit Scarborough on Saturday.