FRESH off their first win of the season against Alnwick, Ilkley's confidence received a much-needed boost as face a long away trip to Wirral this Saturday.

"It was not going to make or break our season, but it was an important win for the lads," said Ilkley head of rugby Rhys Morgan. "The victory will do wonders to get their confidence up."

The win lifted Ilkley off the bottom of the North Premier Division. They are now third from bottom, one place above this Saturday's opponent, Wirral.

And Morgan said the 23-7 win was key for his young Ilkley side, who are still missing some more experienced players, including Pete Erskine and Luke Pearson.

"It's crucial that we stay in touch with the other teams," said Morgan. "The guys that we've got coming in are not going to work magic."

But Morgan was extremely pleased with the way his side managed the game and cut down on the number of errors.

"If you look at our performance on Saturday, we only committed four or five errors. When you compare that to the Macclesfield game, we committed 16 errors."

"Our game management was also very good," he said. We kept chipping away at the points and turning over the scoreboard.

"The whole team played a mature game. They grew up on Saturday. To bounce back from the (64-7) defeat at Blackburn shows mental strength."

Morgan also praised both Blake Morgan and Callum Smithson, who he said had outstanding games.

He was also pleased with the play of Joe Paton at tight head prop.

"Joe's one of those players who's been on the fringe of the second team, but he stood up on Saturday and showed mental toughness. I'd like him to repeat that performance again this week."

Although Morgan did say that Ilkley is still recruiting and "could do with another front row forward to give the team some strength in depth".

Morgan added that it was important for Ilkley to get their captain, Joe Lowes, back from injury.

"Joe led from the front for us on Saturday," added Morgan, who now turns his attention to this Saturday, and long away trip to Wirral.

"They play good rugby and like to attack both sides of the ruck," said Morgan. "They also like to throw the ball about and are strong at centre.

"They very similar to us, in that the team they have depends who is available on the day."

The match at Wirral will kick off at 3pm this Saturday.