Ilkley A 76

Malton and Norton A 0

This was undoubtedly one of the better second team performances of the year, characterised by powerful forward play, excellent lines of running, speed of foot and of mind, and support play that was second to none - this was total rugby.

A score line of 76-0 suggests that Malton and Norton did not even put up a fight. This was not the case and it was the visitors that had the better of the opening exchanges.

Ilkley's line, however, was not to be breached and resolute defence followed by a couple of relieving kicks from Messrs Duxbury and Hewitt enabled the team to re-gather and commence their onslaught on the opposition's line.

The first try epitomised all that was good about the team's performance on the day. Ilkley won good line-out ball on the opposition's ten-metre line, the forwards drove up towards the twenty-two before releasing the ball to the backs.

A couple of miss passes, a dummy, a switch, Mackenzie drove then drove back into midfield with purpose.

Murgatroyd, who was everywhere on the day, and a few of his mates in the forwards rucked the opposition away, picked the ball and drove again, sucking in large numbers of defenders.

This created space out wide and after some slick handling, Taylor was left with an easy run-in to the line.

The second try was almost a carbon copy of the first, only this time after the forward rumbles it was Fawcett who took the glory.

The third try came after Ilkley's scrum won a ball against the head, a feat that is almost unheard of in today's modern game but a common occurrence today with Ilkley's forward pack totally dominant. This was no surprise with a front five of Leeson, Hutchinson, Dennis, Richardson and Danish debutant, Jan Andersen.

Averaging around 20 stone a man these guys are no strangers to a knife and fork and they simply devoured the opposition pack. This gave Pring the armchair ride that scrum-halves must dream about, and the heel against the head gave the half-backs time and space to exhibit their skills, and after some slick handling Fawcett ran in for his brace.

Three more tries followed in quick succession. Hewitt's powerful run-in followed good work from both forwards and backs, Leeson was at the bottom of a mound of bodies to claim his try following a textbook line-out catch and drive, and Hutchinson crossed over having been put in by the tireless Murgatroyd.

Half-time was clearly a relief for Malton and some motivational words from their skipper resulted in them starting the second-half looking like the dominant team. Only tenacious scrambling defence from Ilkley's back three prevented them for going over for what would have been a deserved score.

But Ilkley were resolute, and it was not long before the forwards once again took control of the game. Malton were not even able to profit from their significant height advantage in the line-out, as the athleticism of Ilkley's jumpers (Widdup and Jones) together with the technique and brute strength of their lifters (Leeson, Dennis and Richardson) were able to poach more than their fair share of the opposition's ball.

It was following a stolen lineout that enabled the backs, marshalled expertly by Duxbury, to manufacture an opening for Hewitt, which he took.

Neither the suspected fractured cheekbone to Pring nor the worrying knee injury to Widdup failed to clog-up the well-oiled Ilkley machine. Young Coughlan came on for Pring and Hayley Gillon's healing hands ensured that Widdup got through.

It was Coughlan's sniping run that lead to the eighth try. He spotted a gap that no normal sized person would have got through, and using his bulk bounced a couple of defenders back to give Duxbury an opening that even a man of his size could get through.

Rowlands went in for the ninth try after taking an excellent line, showing no little determination and diving in to place the ball right on the whitewash. Andersen, as he had done all afternoon, bullocked his way through the defence, slipped the ball to Richardson who smacked into and through the posts to flop over the line for the tenth.

Dennis deserves much of the credit for the final try, as he was cruelly denied by the referee, being judged to have been held up before the line after his barnstorming run. Hutchinson took the ball against the head and the pack squeezed the opposition into submission as they drove over for a simple push over try secured by Widdup. Hewitt kicked his tenth goal of the afternoon to give a final score of 76-0. Job well done.