AFTER a frustrating defeat last weekend to Horbury, Ilkley Town got their promotion charge back on track with a 5-1 thrashing of hapless Sherburn White Rose.

The game began cagily, with a number of fouls turning it into a feisty encounter, until Ilkley got the breakthrough in the 15th minute.

A perfectly weighted through ball was played into right back Alfie Heaton, who drove in a low cross towards the near post, where Ben Greenhow tapped the ball home into the bottom right corner.

A last-man challenge saw Sherburn's centre half perhaps fortunate not to see red, before their left winger slid in recklessly to challenge Heaton.

The referee lost patience with Sherburn's rough tackling and sent off their winger, leaving them a man down for the remainder of the game.

Defender Darren Munday then limped off, but other than that, Ilkley were confident of building on their one goal cushion during the second half.

Eventually, in the 65th minute, their sustained pressure paid dividends.

A chipped pass from the right hand side was dinked in towards the penalty spot where it fell to substitute Tom Fleming, who dragged the ball back across goal into the bottom left corner.

Two minutes later, Fleming thundered a shot off the post. Luckily, it rebounded to Harry Brown, who reached the ball before the oncoming defender and was able to tap the ball into the empty net.

Having only ten men took its toll on Sherburn, but they managed to create a goalscoring chance from a through ball.

Ilkley’s back line all assumed it was offside, and Sherburn’s striker took advantage, running through the gap and slotting past keeper Jake Baguley.

Once again though, Heaton barrelled down the right wing and swung in a low cross to Greenhow, who calmly dispatched the ball across goal and in for Ilkley’s fourth.

Ilkley added salt to Sherburn’s wounds when Joe Chilaka ran onto an exquisite through ball.

He received the ball near the corner flag and dribbled towards the keeper. He then unselfishly squared the ball across goal for Fleming, who simply tapped it into the open goal.

Baguley then pulled off a superb reflex save to deny Sherburn’s striker from bagging a second just before full-time.

The win saw Ilkley secure their position in the top three, while Sherburn stay at the foot of the table with only four points from nine games.