Keighley 8 Ilkley 14

Ask any sportsman what makes the difference between winning and losing and most will tell you that one of the main ingredients is confidence.

Both teams were somewhat changed from when the Dalesmen won 11-10 at Stacks Field earlier in the season. Since then fortunes couldn’t have been more different.

Keighley went on the winning trail and, at one point, looked possible challengers to Sheffield for second place.

Ilkley’s season turned into a losing nightmare until after the big freeze when they turned things around.

Their current form is good enough to have put them among the promotion contenders. However, the early poor results, and the unfortunate five-point penalty leave them in mid table.

Ironically Ilkley’s failure to earn a bonus point on Saturday saw them drop a place in the table.

On the plus side there is more daylight between them and the bottom two. Dinnington sit 19 points behind Ilkley in the second relegation slot with still a maximum of 30 points to play for.

Selby, Bridlington, Castleford, Scarborough and Knottingley are significantly closer, so the fat lady hasn’t done her singing yet. This was one of Ilkley’s best performances of the season and up there with the victory at York.

. They were better disciplined, better drilled and most important their confidence was high. But in this tightest of tight leagues, it was all by the finest of margins.

Perfect playing conditions and a referee on his way up through the ranks enhanced what was a good game of rugby played and officiated in excellent spirit.

For once the Dalesmen had by far the better of the penalty count, at least until the dying moments when a rash of needless offences gave Keighley, first a penalty goal and, on the stroke of full time, a consolation try that earned them a deserved bonus point.

The Dalesmen opened brightly and went ahead with a Phil Howell penalty.

Ten minutes later another Keighley offence produced Howell's second goal.

It was end to end stuff for the next 15 minutes as Keighley's excellent backs began to open up, their chances spoiled by knocks-on or penalties given away.

Ilkley gained much of their momentum through superb forward play.

The Ilkley backs looked to make space out wide too, both wings looking dangerous in full flight.

Referee Neil Boothroyd was keeping a perfect grip on the game and, with both scrums showing tendency to wheel seemed content not to ruin continuity with constant resets.

It was a wheeled Ilkley scrum on the home side’s 22 that allowed Iain McKenzie to pick up off the back and feed the ball left.

Richard Greenfield showed a clean pair of heals to charge through a minute gap to bag the vital try for an 11-0 lead.

The Dalesmen maintained the upper hand, though they could have saved a couple of hearts in mouth moments with less ambitious and more safety conscious kicking.

Vincent made another incisive break releasing Hamish Pratt with a pass on the Keighley 10 metre line.

Pratt's pass was knocked on to give Keighley some relief but Greenfield went close from a powerful burst and Howell just missed a penalty before the break.

The second half was a repeat of the first.

Both sides showed enterprise and skill but neither could get over the line.

Ilkley appeared to have broken the deadlock as they camped on Keighley’s line for eight phases only to beat themselves by conceding a penalty with what looked like the try scoring drive.

Ilkley too had changes to make. Chris Hamill, a useful addition to the Dalesmen's’ formidable front row roster came off with a groin injury.

Josh Cockerham replaced him. Iain McCaul came off to allow young Ryan Grange 15 minutes valuable game time.