Ilkley 23 Burnage 19

AFTER the heroics displayed at Lymm in their previous game and with the welcome return of Pete Small and James Spencer to the Ilkley squad, the Stacks Field faithful were expecting a vibrant performance on a perfect Autumn day.

Opponents Burnage were lying at the foot of National League Three North and the Dalesmen were favourites to notch their first five-pointer of the season.

In the event, there were many who thought the home side were lucky not to have lost after a fractured display which was littered with errors. With sterner tests to come, such mistakes will be severely punished.

However, even an ugly win remains something worth having and moves Ilkley up to sixth in the table.

The Ilkley pack can take great credit. Severely disrupted with injuries to Will Davies and cards to Iain McKenzie and Josh Cockerham there was further reorganisation needed when Gus Ramsey found himself in the backs when first Joe Rowntree and then Will Marlow had to leave the action.

The injury list is already looking lengthy. Rowntree and Marlow’s replacements played well and contributed solidly to the win, but there was no doubt that the home side was unsettled.

Ilkley had a nightmare start, when a sloppy pass in the opposition half was scooped up by Burnage’s man of the match, James Hodder, who made 60metres to score under the posts. Rhys Evans’ conversion made it 7-0.

Josh Kimber’s next clearance kick was charged down, but Burnage failed to capitalise and the danger was averted. Having settled down after the early shock, a good break by centre Steve Nolson broke down close to the Burnage line, but a stray hand led to an Ilkley penalty and Rowntree’s boot did the business to open the home side's account.

The Manchester side certainly had not made the journey over the Pennines merely to admire the view and Ilkley knew they were in for a tough match. The home side defended well though, even after losing Rowntree to injury and after ten minutes of pressure from the visitors, Nolson contrived another good break. This time, the support was there in the form of Elliot Morgan who went over for a try which Kimber converted to establish a 10-7 lead.

Another break out from defence by Ilkley and a kick from Kimber forced an error from the Burnage full back, but on-rushing wing Marlow injured himself on the follow-through tackle and had to leave the field.

A high tackle on Ryan Cooper and a bullocking run from JH Johnson served to win Ilkley a penalty, converted by Kimber for a 13-7 lead.

This advantage did not last long however and a Burnage penalty deep into the Ilkley 22 led to a good catch and drive which saw lock Chris Quick emerging with the try.

With their lead reduced to a single point, Ilkley endured a poor last ten minutes of the half saw Ilkley lose two successive line-outs. To add to their discomfort McKenzie was yellow carded for being deliberately offside. Somehow Ilkley held out until the interval.

Fourteen-man Ilkley’s second half started well and a Cooper break down the blind-side after a scrum ended with the scrum-half being bundled into touch. Ilkley won the line-out and a good move broke down when Johnson and Morgan were adjudged to have crossed.

The Dalesmen made further progress with the return of McKenzie and when they were awarded a free kick, Cooper’s quick take enabled him to make a few metres before passing to Morgan, whose magnificent run-in from half-way seemed to include swatting off tackles from the entire Burnage side. Kimber’s kick missed by a whisker and Ilkley were 18-12 to the good.

Their control of the game allowed a patient build up and having gone through several phases, Will Davies went over for a try to the right of the sticks. Kimber’s kick was not a good one, but at 23-12, Ilkley were sniffing a bonus point.

The forwards set up the platform on a couple of occasions, but over-complication in the backs led to the ball being lost and Burnage clearing their lines.

Now it was Burnage’s chance to salvage a bonus point and seemingly rejuvenated, they took play close to the Ilkley line. Cooper’s try-saving tackle repulsed the first wave, causing a knock-on.

The resultant scrum was a mess and Burnage regained possession, only to knock on. A strike against the head created the chance for scrum half Jordan Chapell to scored a try which Evans converted.

The last five minutes were nail-biting. Errors littered the Dalesmen's play and Cockerham was given a yellow card for a ruck offence. Thankfully, Ilkley clung on for their second win in three matches, but the injury list is a real worry.