Rossendale 30 Ilkley 19

ILKLEY returned home empty handed from their first visit to Rossendale which was harsh after a brave effort from their makeshift side.

With John Pickersgill and Ryan Cooper adding to the list of absentees, the Dalesmen knew they were in for a tough afternoon.

But they got off to a flying start. They were seven points up before half the crowd had made its way up to the wide, flat pitch.

Rossendale’s kick off was collected cleanly and the ball went through several pairs of hands to JH Johnson on the left wing.

Once held up, the ball was recycled beautifully and back it went down the line to Paul Petchey on the right wing. Petchey made no mistake and a delightful arcing run finished with a touch-down under the posts. Joe Rowntree added the extras.

Back came Rossendale and forward pressure, notably from lock Paddy Pole, forced the Ilkley defence to concede two penalties, both chipped over by Lewis Allen to narrow the lead to just one point.

Rowntree and Alan exchanged further penalties and with Ilkley holding on to that one point lead, Dale’s left-wing Joe McCluskie broke free.

The Ilkley defence hauled him down, but ruck ball was won and flashed out right to the waiting Pole in the outside-centre position. Unwisely ignoring the two-man overlap, the lock tried to smash his way over, but was stopped by a huge tackle from James Spencer.

Having knocked on over the line, Ilkley had the put-in at the scrum and cleared their lines. They were less fortunate at the next scrum though, when their front row was badly beaten, a penalty was conceded and Allen gave his side the lead for the first time.

With every man on the side contributing well, Ilkley were making inroads into home territory. Johnson fielded a clearance kick and barrelled his way into the centre of the field on the 22. A stray hand in the ruck gave Rowntree the opportunity to regain the lead for Ilkley just before the break.

Ilkley’s rolling maul had already caused problems and when Dale tried to pull another effort down, the resultant penalty was slotted by Rowntree. This though was swiftly nullified as Allen returned the compliment when the visitors went over the top.

The same player, on-loan from Fylde, knocked over another penalty when Ilkley again transgressed in the tackle area and it was 18-16 to Rossendale.

Ilkley came straight back and had the home pack reeling at yet another ferocious driving maul. An offside decision, followed by a further ten metre gain for backchat, gave Ilkley another opportunity to regain the lead.

However, the decision was taken to go for the line. Three times the entire Ilkley side battered away at the Rossendale defence and three times they were repulsed.

The home side eventually broke free and kicked ahead, deep into the Ilkley half. Ben Magee was harshly adjudged to have not released in the tackle. A quick penalty was taken and replacement George Peel squeezed into the corner.

Allen’s magnificent conversion increased the lead to 25-16 and Ilkley were now nine points and two scores adrift, very much against the run of play at this stage.

Anxious to salvage at least a bonus point from the match, Ilkley renewed their attack and when Tom Earnshaw’s attempt to tackle was judged high, Rowntree duly obliged.

With Ilkley marginally in the ascendancy in these closing ten minutes, it was difficult to believe what happened next. Dale’s kick-off following the penalty landed in no-man’s land, the Ilkley players seemingly transfixed.

The Dale forwards surged upfield, claimed possession and sent in prop Leighton Taylor for a most unlikely score. Allen missed his only kick of the match. It meant Ilkley would now have to work hard to get the point they richly deserved.

Alas, this was not to be and despite hammering away at the home defence for the last five minutes, winning three line-outs, defence won the day and the score remained at 30-19 when referee Charlie Gayther blew for time.

To come away from this match with nothing to show for such a sterling effort was very disappointing, to say the least, but with the recent disruptions to a more or less settled team, this is perhaps not surprising.

There is no doubt though that Ilkley have now adjusted to the tempo of this league and with the return of the missing players will surely amass enough points this season to finish at least mid-table.

A Yorkshire Cup match against Hull next Saturday should provide yet another stern test, as their other league opponents have a week’s rest.