Scarborough 14 Ilkley 20

Ilkley enjoyed their first visit to Scarborough’s plush new ground as they continued their climb away from Yorkshire One’s troubled waters.

The whole set up is impressive with a swanky new clubhouse flanked by four new pitches and a superb grandstand.

This is the first all new rugby union ground, in Yorkshire, for many a year. The set up is truly magnificent and fully justifies the rumoured £4million expenditure The ground has stunning views of the North Sea while the warm hospitality of the members, plus a win, made this a happy day at the seaside for Ilkley followers.

That was delivered by a side shorn of Leon Treco and Neil Spence but there was a buzz about the Dalesmen as they warmed up in the wet in preparation for what was their fourth victory in a row against a side below them in the table.

Concerns were raised as large puddles of standing water were swept off the in the hour or so before kick-off.

Apparently drainage of newly laid pitches is something that takes years to settle. This is something the Scarborough club will have to work on over time. It did rather spoil the chances of any flowing running rugby.

The Dalesmen cruised into an 11-0 lead with two superb penalty goals from the boot of Peter Shanks and a trademark catch and drive try after referee Mr Oliver Mantle had twice penalised the home side.

They positively flew over the line from all of 20 metres out. The reliable Hamish Pratt was credited with the touchdown.

Boro hit back almost immed-iately as the kick-off was poorly dealt with. A series of good phases saw Boro’s hooker Ian Williams score wide out.

To complement the front row repertoire, stocky prop Matty Jones was successful from the touchline with the conversion. and it was game on.

Two more well-taken penalties before the break gave the Dales-men what looked like a reasonably comfortable half-time lead.

But Ilkley don’t do comfortable! Instead of going on and perhaps scoring some tries for a bonus point they made heavy weather of staying on top of a largely ineffective Boro side.

Early pressure was soaked up but as the sea breeze started to get up so did the tempo of the Scarborough play.

The Ilkley nerves were once again jangling as Iain MacKenzie was yellow carded for what looked an innocuous offence on halfway.

The kick was lame. The Dalesmen had escaped further punishment.

It was the Seasiders who squandered their man advantage by conceding penalties and soon the superb Shanks had another chance and he duly obliged to make it 20-7.

In an attacking position following yet another booming kick downfield from the increasingly confident and effective Phil Howell, scrum half Kirk Arundale was deemed to have held on in the tackle and he too saw yellow.

The Dalesmen were down to 13 but they at least held on well until MacKenzie was restored to battle.

Back came the Dalesmen 14 to fight their way into the Seasiders' 22, but two handling errors gave Boro a 22 drop out.

It was dealt with badly and a loose ball squirted into the path of big lock Matty Else.

He broke two or three Ilkley tackles and charged at the line.

With the home crowd in raptures he was felled short but the tidal wave carried him over for a great try.

Jones obliged with the conversion and once again from a position of relative comfort Ilkley contrived to give their loyal band of supporters cause to book a heart check.

Arundale returned to the fray to restore numbers, but skipper Stuart Vincent limped off to be replaced by Richard Greenfield.

A truly torrid ten minutes followed with Ilkley defending with their lives, conceding penalties like confetti and losing winger Tuli Makaafi to a third yellow card. Boro lost one of theirs to a card for stamping.

Boro had justifiable claims for a penalty try turned down and Arundale made the tackle of the match to force a diving Boro player into touch a metre out.

Somehow the Dalesmen hung on to record a victory that was probably theirs by right despite giving themselves and the supporters a real fright.

This week the Dalesmen visit York, another go-ahead prog-ressive club with a new clubhouse and changing facility and they want to keep their run going.

They will be aiming to avenge the comprehensive home defeat which came at the October low point in this topsy turvy season.