Old Otliensians 19 Ilkley 2nds 25

SKIPPER Chris Chapman raised the Aire Wharfe Cup high after a bruising final between these old rivals. at Chaffers Field on Friday.

The win crowned a wonderful season for the Ilkley club which has seen their first and third teams lift league titles.

The match took place in a deluge of biblical proportions which rather dampened what should have been a festive end of season cup final. It was a shame for the host club and all its hard working volunteers.

The Dalesmen started like a train with full back Andy Malley going in at the corner after a couple of minutes.

Dan Nolan battered his way through a stunned home defence to score in the same corner three minutes later. Neither conversion was successful but a 10-0 lead had the Ilkley crowd expecting more.

However cup finals aren't like that and 'Ensians gradually found out how to counter the Dalesmen's attacking power both in the backs and the formidable back row.

Whilst the Ilkley scoring was halted 'Ensians just couldn't get out of their own half and with Jon Pickersgill and Will Davies dominating the line-out, they had to endure constant pressure.

The pressure finally broke the blue resistance and, fittingly, young Pickersgill went over to make it

15-0.

Charles Morgan added a penalty goal and the Ilkley crowd began to relax. What a mistake that can be at Chaffers Field.

Suddenly the boys in blue were making their first foray into Ilkley's 22. This was repelled but not for long. Some slack tackling allowed the elusive Rob Lofthouse to score a try which the loyal Kristian Keinhorst converted.

It was all to play for in the second half especially as the assured presence of the Dalesmen seemed to dissipate. The quality and accuracy of their kicking deserted them, their passing became frenetic and the penalty count against them began to climb.

Nerves were settled, temporarily when Will Marlow broke free to score a super try which Eddie Brown converted. Surely that would break blue hearts. It didn't. Back they came with a

vengeance.

Lock Ali Campbell capitalised on some serious pressure in the corner to score wide out to reduce the deficit to 25-12.

'Ensians were reinvigorated, the Dalesmen were holding on. Several times the Ilkley defensive line looked to have been broken but they held firm even though they conceded a number of penalties.

The home side's pressure told when Mr Waulbaum awarded a penalty try which Keinhorst converted to make it 25-19.

With hearts in their mouths, the Ilkley crowd began to fear that history might repeat itself. 'Ensians gave their all in a bid to grab that vital score.

Ilkley were rocking but they managed to cling on for the win.