Ilkley U-14s.......6

Wortley Boys....2

Ilkley Under-14s, sponsored by Bella Italia White Cross, are through to the quarter-finals of the West Riding Junior County Cup after a gutsy performance against a resilient Wortley side.

Ilkley took time to settle but after constant pressure Richard Sharpe opened Ilkley's account with a looping header. Both sides worked hard in midfield cancelling each other out. However, a mix-up in the Ilkley defence led to the Wortley side equalising just before half-time.

The second-half was a close encounter as both sides pushed towards a victory. A corner caught Ilkley napping making it 2-1. This seemed to awaken Ilkley, Graham Parr was fouled 35 yards out and Richard Ettenfield struck the ball from the free-kick. The Wortley 'keeper must have been unsighted as the ball flew into the bottom corner to put Ilkley back on level terms.

The home side started to put their game together. A long ball from James Davidson found Richard Sharpe in the box whose shot was saved by the 'keeper but Andrew Bailey was on hand to tap in. Ilkley now piled on more pressure as there was no way through the excellent back four of Ben Batters, Oliver Barnett, Daniel Henderson and Sam Bagshaw. George Taylor's handling was first-class in the 18-yard box and his long kick was headed on by Parr in midfield who was impeded yet again. Ettenfield took the free-kick, which was deflected into the roof of the net for Ilkley's fourth.

The Leeds side were now tired and two further goals from Richard Sharpe to complete his hat-trick finished them off. With 10 minutes remaining the introduction of fresh legs in the order of Rytis McDonald, Richard Thackray and Joe Mazurke kept the away side at bay and completed a fully professional job.

Ilkley are through to the last eight and await the draw early next week. This was an excellent performance from an ever-improving young Ilkley side who wouldn't have envisaged getting this far at the beginning of the season. Man-of-the-Match was Richard Sharpe but the official struggled to single out one player as they had all worked hard as a team.

l On Sunday the Under-14s are at home to Horsforth Dynamos, kick-off 1.00pm.