HAVING watched his team play on artificial grass pitches several times, it is clear that Ilkley's head of rugby Rhys Morgan has some reservations.

The latest example came last Saturday when their North Premier match at home to Wirral was switched at short notice to Keighley.

Ilkley won a see-saw encounter 31-26 to climb from 10th to eighth but Morgan, although grateful for Keighley easing the Dalesmen's fixture congestion, does not reckon that 4G pitches are the panacea for all ills.

He said: "Quite a few of the lads afterwards were complaining about feeling sore in the thighs or being injured, and I know that my knees would not have fancied playing on that.

"There is also the problem of cuts getting infected.

"I am not just saying this about Keighley as I think it is true of all 4G pitches, and we have also had experience of Burnage a few years ago and more recently Billingham, and we still have to go to Preston Grasshoppers a week on Saturday.

"They might be okay to play on occasionally, but there is not as much give in these pitches as you think, and last Saturday was not a good day for the Morgan family.

"Elliot, who gave a golden performance as captain on his birthday, has a rib injury and may need to be rested for the derby at (third-placed) Harrogate this weekend, while Charles came off limping with an ankle injury, and Blake is going to be out with a medial ligament injury.

"We are running out of ice in our house!

"If Ilkley ever went away from a grass pitch, I think we would go for a hybrid surface."

The match at Keighley kicked off at 4pm, and Ilkley were caught cold, trailing 14-0 in as many minutes before hitting back with 31 unanswered points, only to concede the last 12, setting up a tense finish.

Morgan added: "All that (first-team coach) Nathan Smith and myself said to the players at half-time was stick to the game-plan but players get sucked into off-loading when they play on a 4G pitch.

"We must have knocked the ball on six times in the first half after offloads, and even Pete Erskine, who is an intelligent lad, got sucked into it, saying afterwards 'I couldn't help myself'."

Ilkley's chairman of rugby Andy Munro was instrumental in organising the switch to Keighley, and Morgan added: "If we hadn't played Wirral last Saturday, we might have been looking at May 12.

"We are already playing at Rossendale on May 5 and you have to remember that we are all amateur players and they could be going back for pre-season training four to five weeks after finishing this season."