Bradley RES...1

Ilkley YOUTH 2

For the first time in their short history the Guyson sponsored Ilkley Youth defeated Bradley Reserves away from home at the fourth attempt.

Traditionally this had proved a difficult encounter for the Youth team players who found the confines of Bradley's miniscule pitch not to their liking, as they were unable to find the space to pass the ball around in their usual fashion. This allied with a strong breeze ensured that this game would follow the pattern of previous encounters.

Ilkley were able to field an unchanged side from the previous week's encounter with Horton and were conscious of the need to pass the ball and provide supporting angles at a quick tempo so that the small areas of space available could be exploited.

In the first ten minutes this sharpness crafted openings for Smith and Jordan in the forward line as both McTigue and Keith eluded markers to centre in the penalty area.

One of these attacks was scrambled away by the Bradley defence and the resulting corner was delivered by Richardson who found McTigue unmarked in the six yard box for the simplest of downward headers.

This goal shocked Bradley into life, who, with the wind in their favour, were able to put the Ilkley back four under pressure with long balls which were hard to read travelling down the slope.

Concentrated efforts from Sayers and Beaumont in combating the aerial assault were ably assisted by Richardson and Brightman in anticipating the knockdowns to clear danger in the direction of Jordan and Smith who always had the pace to outstrip the defence.

From one of these clearances Smith was able to collect the ball and turn his marker before finding McTigue.

The ball was eventually cleared for a throw in on the left from which good inter-play between Richardson and McTigue saw the former deliver a pin-point cross to Jordan who was unable to steer the ball downwards. A similar situation found the lively McTigue combine with Smith who was brought to an abrupt halt for what should have been a penalty. Rishworth and Trimnell were limited in their attacking options with the ball often travelling in see-saw fashion from front to back.

At half-time Ilkley were pleased to be ahead in a difficult contest but remained aware of the need to increase the tempo.

Richardson, Smith and McTigue all combined well to send the winger scurrying away only for the bumpy surface to make controlling the ball difficult. Keith and Jordan also put together some slick passing movements for Smith to shoot narrowly wide.

Bradley were always threatening with their physical presence and got back in the game when a long through ball was not dealt with by Taylor.

Sensing an opportunity to go on and win the game the urgency in Bradley's play increased further and Ilkley had to weather a storm of long throws in which Taylor dissipated the danger by making good decisions and strong punched clearances. ded impetuous to Ilkley's attacking play, combining effectively with Smith and Keith on the right to cause problems for the Bradley defenders. Smith shot narrowly wide and Keith found the canal from two of these openings. Ultimately the winner came from a mistake in the Bradley defence when good work from McCullow chased down what appeared to be a lost cause to rob the defender before squaring to find Smith eight yards from goal who placed the ball into the far top corner.

This deflated the Bradley players and Ilkley found themselves able to attack as Rishworth and Trimnell managed to win the battle in midfield. McCullow should have scored when clear through on goal and Smith saw another well struck effort saved. Bradley had one final chance to equalise when hesitancy from Ilkley defenders allowed a Bradley player to shoot, fortunately, over the bar.

This was never likely to be a classic encounter full of passing football due to the size of the pitch and it's bumpy condition. However Ilkley shaded the contest on the quality and quantity of chances made despite being under pressure for periods of the game. Jon Keith was man of the match for his display and all of the Ilkley players stuck to their task well to earn a pleasing and hard-fought result.