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Yorkshire Cup
Ilkley 10 Doncaster 20
High flying first Yorkshire league one outfit Doncaster made their first trip to Stacks Field for a 2nd round YC match and were relieved to get out with a hard fought victory over a tenacious Ilkley. Played in sunny conditions with a strong cross-breeze Ilkley started the better and for the first 10 minutes knocked Doncaster backwards in the rucks and mauls. Ben Lambert’s kicking at fly half put Ilkley on the front foot which stopped the big Doncaster pack from getting into the game. A penalty against Ilkley however allowed Doncaster field position in the Ilkely 22 and we saw the first signs of their forward power as they won a line out and mauled the ball up to the Ilkley line for the opening try. Undeterred Ilkley put together a combination of rucks and drives with the ball then coming out wide allowing Alex Ickrighill to almost touch down in the corner but for a last gasp try saving tackle by the opposition 15. The ball then came out right with great inter-change by Alex Lithgow, Andy Thomson and Ben Fletcher only to be held up in the Doncaster in-goal area. With 20 minutes gone Ilkely were in the ascendancy but then the turning point of the game – a clearance from Doncaster was chased up and despite an knock-on seen by the large crowd, the referee played on allowing Doncaster to score to lead 10-0. Rather than knock the wind out of their sails Ilkely came straight back with marauding runs by Ollie Dennis and Matt Dakin forcing play deep into the Doncaster 22. Sam Thornton, Mikey Groves and Will Griffiths won turnover ball and with the line beckoning James Colclough was held up agonizingly short. Clever kicks into space by Charlie Hopkinson forced Doncaster to scramble touch downs behind their in-goal area and it seemed only a matter of time before Ilkley scored. However at that moment Doncaster forced a simple over lap in their own half which freed the lighting quick Doncaster winger to get outside space and he ran the full length of the itch to score what looked like the killer blow for the visitors who went into half time 15-0 ahead. Worse was to come as a line out in the Ilkley 22 5 minutes into the second half allowed Doncaster to catch and maul a fourth try which looked as if it was match over. This season however the U17s have showed they can compete with the best teams in the county and from this moment Ilkley found their second wind and dominated the rest of the game. John Pickersgill and man of the match Tom Crane began to win loose ball and with the fresh legs of James Frost began to push the tiring Doncaster backwards. A break-away run by Matt Meyer gave Ilkley a ruck deep in the Doncaster the ball went out wide in the move of the match to allow Ryan Keane at full back to run in from 30 years to give Ilkley hope. Ilkley got straight back and Doncaster were pinged for killing the ball and eventually had a player sin binned for repeated offences. A line out with 5 minutes to go allowed Calum Gillom at the rear of the line to catch and power over the line from 10 meters to bring Ilkley within 10 points. It was not to be however. The Ilkley team were cheered off the field by a big home crowd testimony to a superb team effort and a hugely entertaining game. Doncaster to their credit were extremely sporting but knew they had been in a game.
Sunday 1st February 2009
Ilkley 5, Huddersfield 8
Ilkley U17 took on the league leaders Huddersfield and despite hammering the Huddersfield line for most of the second half fell agonisingly short in a highly entertaining and well-disciplined match. Ilkley started brightly with Ollie Dennis making the running into the Huddersfield back line. Huddersfield have the best defensive record in the league and it was clear to see why as they put in some big tackles and had dominance in the scrum early on. The Huddersfield centres were also causing Ilkley some problems but some good defence by Alex Lithgow and Ben Lambert kept them at bay. A silly penalty after 15 minutes however gave Huddersfield an early 3 points but this was the signal for Ilkley to up the game. The line out was working superbly with Will Griffiths as thrower and John Pickersgill and James Colclough as jumpers winning all but 2 line-outs in the entire game. The Ilkley maul was also going well with Sam Thornton and Tom Crane controlling the close game which almost saw Ilkley drive Huddersfeld from the 22 over their try line. On 29 minutes a quick ruck saw Andy Thomson at fly half in space to side-step his opposite number and break two tackles to give him space to sprint through for a super individual effort. The conversion hit the post. On 32 minutes the Huddersfield winger pounced on a loose ball from a kick and was away with only the full back to beat. Ryan Keane put in the tackle of the game, allowing Ilkley the half time lead.
The second half was a ding dong affair. Huddersfield started brightly and took the game to Ilkley with a series of planned drives into the midfield Ilkley were wobbling but held out. Then on 45 minutes a careless pass in to the midfield on their own try line allowed Huddersfield turnover ball which they moved out wide to score to make the score 8-5. Ilkley were under the cosh for another 10 minutes and were penned into their own 22. A kick from Charlie Hopkinson drilled a penalty clearance from his own 22 to the opposition corner flag which turned defence into attack. Ilkley camped in the Huddersfield 22 for virtually the remainder of the game. First Charlie Hopkinson on the right and then 2 minutes later Rob Cranley on the left though they had scored but the referee was unsighted on both occasions. A penalty to the right of the posts was just missed and then Ilkley chose to run rather than take another penalty to the left of the posts – a decision they were left to regret as the clock ticked down. Matt Meyer and Alex Ickringhill on the wings both had chances but it was not to be. Ilkley kept going to the end but Huddersfield stood firm and showed why they were the current league leaders. This was a game that showed junior rugby at its best and highlighted some potential players for senior rugby next season.
Sunday 9th November 2008
Ilkley U17 26 Middlesborough 5
With a full squad to pick form for the first time this season the Ilkley 17 ran out victors at home to Middlesborough, first time visitors to Ilkley in this age group. In torrential conditions it was going to be a tricky game and Middlesborough started the better with an impressive series of rolling mauls that Ilkley were unable to defend. Silly penalties and knock-ons gave plenty of encouragement to the visitors and the opening 10 minutes was looking ominous. Harry Tarrant at full back however turned the game. Picking up a loose pass in his 22 he broke right and made 50 yards feeding Matt Meyer, with plenty left to do, to outpace the defence and open the Ilkley score on 10 minutes. Charlie Hopkinson put over a simple tap conversion. Throughout the half Ilkely remained under territorial pressure. The Ilkley forwards were slowly getting to grips with the conditions and good breaks by Ryan Grange, Sam Thornton and Martin Hyde brought some relief. The scrum was under pressure and Tom Crane at 8 was working overtime to protect the ball at the base of the scrum. Callum Gillom and Alex Lithgow were creating pressure and big hits when Middlesborough went wide. Will Griffiths and John Pickersgill were keeping possession at the line out but at half time Ilkley were fortunate to be in front. The big defensive effort by Ilkely paid dividends however as the heavens opened and Ilkely stepped up the pace following a series of substitutions.
One minute after the re-start a great move by Ilkely went down the back line for Meyer to tackled 5 meters short. Middlesborough turned the ball over but in desperation their clearance was scythed straight to Andy Thompson who gratefully caught it and dived over. The conversion made it 14-0. Middlesborough then switched tactics kicking long at every opportunity which Ilkley failed to deal with effectively causing problems inside their own 22. From a scrum Middlesborough set up another rolling maul and drove over the Ilkely line to peg the score back to 14-5. They then had 5 minutes of pressure that could have turned the game. From a kick through by Lambert the Ilkley backs played another passing move down the line setting up to 21-5. The new energy from the likes of Rob Cranley and James Frost were tying up and tiring the Middlesborough forwards who were starting to give away more penalties. A quick tap gave Ollie Dennis space on the right and he rampaged through the midfield offloading to Ryan Keane to add a fourth try on 59 minutes. A number of injuries to Middlesborough led the travelling coaches to asking the ref to end the game short call and give Ilkley a hard fought victory. Middlesborough had given everything and had played the game in excellent spirits.
Sunday 12th October 2008
Ilkley 19, Wharfedale 22
The term ding-dong was invented for games such as this as a pulsating game ended with Wharfedale clinching the final score by millimeters in the last play of the game. After a run of injuries and absences the Ilkley squad were nearly back to full strength and this allowed the coaches to play a number of lads back in their best positions. The opening quarter saw both sides kicking for territory with both packs largely canceling each other. Ilkley’s defense was much improved with Sam Thornton, Ryan Grainger and Ollie Dennis providing some big early hits which set the standard for the rest of the game. Ilkley managed to gain a foothold in the Wharfedale 22 and a series of driving rucks by Tom Crane and Will Griffiths gave excellent field position. The Wharfedale defense was well set up but a super flicked pass behind his back by scrum half Charlie Hopkinson wrong footed the defense allowing James Colclough the chance to crash from 5 years to open the score. With the conversion missed Wharfedale came back strongly and pressured the Ilkley line for the remainder of the half. Terrific scramble defense from Calum Gillum, Ben Huggon and Alex Lithgow each save tries. Ryan Keane made a number of telling tackles to snuff out any chinks in the Ilkley defence and Martin Hyde made two runs from his own 25 making valuable ground and easing the pressure as the half time whistle blew. It was clear that Wharfedale were going to re-group and try to come back. Ilkley were caught sleeping in the opening minute of the second half when Wharfedale stretched the ball first right and then left, overloading Ilkley to score in the far hand corner, attacking the river end. With the conversion missed it was game on. In the past Ilkley have tended to wilt in the second half but this time the whole team intensified their effort. With Ben Lambert on at fly half the Ilkley backs began to look more menacing and some clever kicks pushed Wharfedale back which kept the pressure on. Ben Lambert was held up over the line but from the ensuing scrum the ball was whipped out quickly to the right for Matt Meyer to touch down which was converted to put Ilkley 12-5 up. From this point Ilkley had more chances with Alex Ickringhill again showing his pace but just unable to break the final tackle. Ilkley sent on fresh legs with James Frost and Harry Fisher in the forwards and were soon into their stride.
Wharedale sensed that they had to up their game, bringing on a new scrum half who turned the game with number of counter-attacking runs. First Wharfedale had a disallowed try on 53 minutes for a double movement. A silly offside by a chasing Ilkley kicker gave Wharfedale a penalty in the Ilkely 22. Ilkley were outnumbered and again were caught for the second time with a try in the far left hand corner. With the conversion missed it was 12-10 Ilkley with 13 minutes to play. A series of indiscretions cost Ilkley dear as Wharfedale worked their way up the pitch. On 64 minutes a desperate defense led to a penalty for Wharfedale which they decided to run. From the move Wharfedale scored to go ahead for the first time in the match 12-17. 3 minutes later Wharfedale thought they had scored the killer try but were held up. In the final 10 minutes Harry Tarrant put in two try saving tackles as Wharfedale tried everything to break the Ilkley. Will Smith, on at wing, stopped another dangerous attack and from the possession a deep kick pushed Ilkley into Wharfedale territory. Ilkley were all over Wharfedale in their 22 and only desperate defending were keeping Ilkley at bay. A desperate kick from Wharfedale was charged down by Charlie Hopkinson who pounced on the ball to tie the scores. He then coolly kicked over the conversion to make it 19-17. The referee Ray Dennis then called last play. Agonisingly Ilkley lost the ball from the re-start which allowed the Wharfedale team to maul the ball onto the Ilkley 22. Here they were able to move the ball out right. In what seemed like slow motion 3 Ilkley tacklers scrambled a Wharfedale forward who hit the corner flag but was able to ground the ball before he went into touch. Following the missed conversion the final whistle went. It was generally agreed that this had been a highly entertaining match, in excellent spirit between two very disciplined teams. As league leaders Wharfedale survived, just, and kept their heads at the end to take the points. Ilkley stepped up a gear as their coaches had been expecting once the full team became available. Many of the Ilkley lads now go on a 10 day Rugby tour to Dubai. Next game Middlesborough, home 9th November.
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