Ilkley B 11

West Park Vets 5

Ilkley Thirds took to the field for this Vets match with a subtle blend of youth and experience due to the lack of Vets.

The opposition were a wily bunch of experienced performers, and put the home side under pressure from the start.

Ilkley rallied and gained a penalty just into the West Park half which Nixon elected to kick and sent soaring between the posts to open the scoring.

West Park came straight back and would have scored but for the resolute bulks of Hargreaves and Ferguson who kept the ball carrier on his feet away from the try line.

Webster then began to show his class and was quick to seize on loose ball and make breaks, but was invariably enveloped in opposition shirts until his team mates joined him.

West Park scored eventually, closely followed by another Nixon penalty which left one point dividing the teams.

West Park put the pressure on again and pinned Ilkley on their own line until the superb defence stole the ball and passed to No 8 Jenkinson. The massed home crowd were baying for a soaring run at this point, but were left disappointed when Jenkinson's golden boot took over and gained a good metre of ground into touch.

He made up for this immediately as he gained the ball from the line-out and bounced the punch happy West Park No 7 to the earth to commence a penetrating run taken over by Cooper, then to winger Wetherby passing to Miller who touched down to finish a superb full length team effort.

Handbags started swinging soon after, and referee Brook called a halt to a hard fought and well deserved victory.

U-11s cup

progress

Ilkley Under-11s defeated Skipton and Baildon to move on to the next round of the Yorkshire Cup in mid-December.

Ilkley U-11s 19

Skipton 0

Ilkley made hard work of defeating a much improved Skipton side. Although they dominated the match from start to finish they only managed to cross the Skipton line three times. Forwards Harry Fisher and Andrew Ross scored two close range tries before Patrick Burns scored a spectacular effort in the second-half. Matthew Worrall converted two of the three tries.

Ilkley U-11s 21

Baildon 0

Ilkley Under-11s played much better rugby in their second match of the morning and scored three good tries in a much more open game. Andrew Ross opened the scoring and Tom Crane quickly added a second, both after good work by Ilkley forwards.

Matthew Worrall added a third after a storming run. Matthew Worrall converted all three tries. George Hardy was nominated as Ilkley's Man-of-the-Tournament for hi magnificent running and tackling during the two matches.

Under-9s in

cup action

Ilkley Under-9s took part in the Yorkshire Cup for the first time last Sunday.

First match was against Bradford and Bingley which proved to be a very hard fought but even contest, with some brave tackling from the Ilkley team - particularly from Ben Mordey and Matthew Thompson - and good use of the ball by all the players.

It wasn't until the very last play of the ball that Bingley managed to break the dead-lock - and Ilkley's hopes - with a last second try from a scrum on the Ilkley try line.

Bingley won their second match against Baildon which meant Ilkley were now only playing for pride in this pool of three teams, when they took on Baildon.

Sustained early pressure, led to a push over try for William Shelton which served to lift the spirits of the Ilkley team and they began to dictate the game with a combination of fine rolling mauls and some incisive running from their backs - notably Sebastian Tullie who raced away for the second try and Matthew Thompson, who capped a fine game, with yet another try.

Tom Hobson typified Ilkley's strong mauling technique by constantly coming away with the ball from the mauls and was rewarded with two tries and the Man-of-the-Match award.

Baildon replied with two tries for a final score of five tries to two to Ilkley.