Winger Ben Walker signed off in style for Ilkley on Saturday, scoring three tries in their 40-13 home victory over Cleckheaton in Regional One North East.
The 22-year-old from Skipton is heading to Australia on Sunday to play rugby union for Noosa Dolphins, who are based in Sunshine Beach, Queensland.
The former South Craven School pupil, who has just graduated from Leeds Beckett University in sport and exercise science, explained of his switch to the Sunshine Coast RU competition:
"I am really excited about the opportunity. It is something that I have always wanted to do and now is the perfect time. They play first-grade union, and I will be at full back or on the wing when I'm out there. I will probably come back to Ilkley after their season has finished."
Reflecting on his first senior hat-trick for Ilkley on Saturday, Walker said: "The first try was from a dead ball where we flung it out and I stepped their winger to score. The second one, I saw their 10 lining up for a long pass to their 13 and intercepted it. The third I saw Browny (scrum half Ed Brown) looking to kick the ball over their defence and I got a lucky bounce to score under the posts."
The visitors went ahead via a try by full back Lewis Taylor in the fourth minute, which was converted, but Ilkley led 10-7 at the interval.
Cleckheaton sliced a penalty attempt across the face of the posts four minutes into the second half but struck two straighter efforts well soon after to give Cleckheaton a 10-13 lead.
But then a Cleckheaton sin-bin, after taking his man out in the air from the kick-off, ensured that Ilkley levelled the scores from the subsequent penalty at 13-13. Ilkley then ran riot for the remaining 25 minutes with Walker scoring 2 tries that helped to tip the balance Ilkley’s way.
Ilkley scored two converted tries to move 27-13 in front with 10 minutes to go, while both sides suffered another yellow card apiece.
A successful penalty took Ilkley's score into the thirties, then a finishing try on 78 minutes after Cleckheaton fatally allowed the ball to bounce.
A long-range penalty on the final whistle ensured Ilkley won the game 40-13.
The win pushed Ilkley up a place to seventh, but Walker, who is set to return to the family’s bakery business in Skipton when he comes back to the UK, was not fully satisfied.
He said: "We could have done better as we have had a lot of close games that we could have won, but we will take where we are."
Ilkley’s head coach Rhys Morgan said of Walker: "I hope that he has a great trip and that he is looked after down there and comes back a better player.
"He owed us one with that hat-trick because he messed one up early and didn’t have his best game last week as he slipped off a bit.
"But he is a great lad and hopefully he will be back with us in September."
Morgan was critical of referee Tom Hurdley’s performance in the Cleckheaton match, saying: "We were always going to wear them down and be fitter, but we were given absolutely no opportunities for the first 40 minutes to show what we have got.
"It was a pretty dour game for 50 minutes, and I am not going to mince my words.
"There was one person who made sure that that was the case, as he didn’t allow the game to flow, and had no empathy for the game."
As for the season as a whole, Morgan said: "The highest that we have ever finished is eighth in this league, but if we can get seventh, which is where we are now after Sandal’s defeat, that would be great.
“The only team that we haven’t beaten in this league are Huddersfield, so it would be nice to win there next Saturday, and then we have Driffield at home on March 22 and Heath away on April 5.
"Everyone else we have beaten, which I am really pleased about."
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