ILKLEY Town remained in fourth place in the West Yorkshire League's Premier Division with a 2-0 win at fifth placed Hunslet on Saturday.

Both teams started at a frantic pace with Town having the first opening after only a couple of minutes.

A Joe Garside set piece was knocked down to Tom Smith who took a touch and fired over the bar.

Minutes later, Hunslet was denied by the excellent Tim Edney in Ilkley's goal.

In the first 20 minutes, Town's defence struggled, as Hunslet won headers, second balls and created opportunities but a combination of poor finishing, last ditch defending and superb goalkeeping kept Town on terms.

Getting through this period was vital for Town, and it was not long until they took the lead.

Edney plucked a Hunslet corner out of the air in the 22nd minute and immediately offloaded to Tom Fleming, who dribbled 20 yards before playing a diagonal pass on the left into the run of Toby Harris, who turned inside and unleashed an unstoppable effort into the top right hand corner to make it 1-0.

The remainder of the half was an equal affair as both teams had chances, with Hunslet hitting the bar and Town having a goal disallowed for off-side.

In the second half, Town were more solid and professional in their display.

The back four were solid and Edney behind would not be beaten. This in addition to the disciplined and competitive display of Town's midfield limited Hunslet and allowed Town to take the points.

Harris held the ball up well bringing Harry Brown, Fleming and Smith into the game and Hunslet struggled to cope. It was this combination that led to the second and decisive goal.

Brown worked some magic on the right hand side before cutting the ball back to Harris in the penalty area.

Harris took a touch and laid the ball off just before a Hunslet defender went through the back of him, and the referee awarded a penalty kick.

Smith took the responsibility and dispatched the ball into the bottom left corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 2-0.

Hunslet adjusted personnel and went very direct, which allowed Town to defend and hit on the break.

Town remained resolute, and if Hunslet did breach the back four Edney was ready and alert to any danger.

As the half wore on, Town looked more and more threatening as Hunslet became ragged in their pursuit of a goal and reverted to a back three in the process.

With minutes remaining, another excellent break saw Town quickly play down the left hand side, two passes later it had been switched to the right hand side and Matt Whitehead found himself one-on-one with the Hunslet keeper, who denied him with a fine save.

In the final few minutes, Town kept the ball well and wound the clock down to take the three points with their 11th clean sheet of the season.