Regional One North East: Cleckheaton 28 Ilkley 40
ILKLEY, staring at a fourth successive away defeat of the season in Regional One North East, trailed 21-9 five minutes into the second half of their derby at Cleckheaton.
The hosts, who had led 11-9 at half-time, looked to have a stranglehold on the match when they scored the first 10 points of the second half inside five minutes.
However, four yellow cards for the home side - they received five in all - gave Ilkley the opportunity that they were craving and they scored 31 points in 28 minutes to seal victory before Cleckheaton replied with a late converted try.
Ilkley bagged tries by scrum half Ed Brown, No 8 Adam Booth, centre Fred Clark, replacement Jack Popely and flanker Ben Carpenter, with centre Charles Morgan adding three penalties and three conversions.
Home tries came from left winger Mikey Hayward, in the first half from a well-crafted move, right winger Jack Marshall from a 70-yard interception and, when it was too late to matter, replacement Tom Oldroyd, with fly half Dale Breakwell adding three penalties and two conversions.
Cleckheaton scrum half James Wilson (first half) was followed into referee Sam Potts’ book by No 8 Jack Seddon, prop Paul Turner, Marshall and centre Tom Hainsworth, with Booth seeing yellow for Ilkley in second-half stoppage time.
Ilkley’s head coach Rhys Morgan said: “At half-time, the players listened to what we had taught them before the match, which was get onside, don’t tackle high, play the areas and go multi-phase.
“It is really easy is discipline regarding tackling. You lower your hips - you cannot stand upright these days so change that and take a step back.
“We sorted that out in the second half and Cleckheaton fell foul of it, and the man in the middle can influence a game simply by sticking to his guns, and we are learning.
“There is no point in complaining that ‘this is right, this is wrong’. He is making the calls and you do what he says, otherwise you are just banging your head against a brick wall. You have to listen and adapt.
“It was really hard for Cleckheaton to play when they were a couple of men down. They are going to tire but we were always going to be there or thereabouts at the end, the boys have worked really hard, we have 35 people training - they train for 80 minutes - and (lock) James Colclough did a great job coming into the team.”
Forwards coach Tom Hicks added: “We said after the game that we were really happy with the boys that came onto the pitch.
“We had a couple of injuries and unavailabilities, but the boys that came in did a great job and added to what we had already, rather than taking away.”
Morgan added: “Young Finchy (Edward Finch) made his first XV debut here off the bench. He has been with us for quite some time, but he used to struggle getting from one end of the pitch to the other, and I was really pleased for him.
“It was a feather in his cap, and sometimes unavailability gives opportunities.”
Ilkley have now won four, drawn one and lost four, and Hicks added: “When we are on it we are a very good side, but there are naturally different challenges in this league.
“We are not going to get the same 15 out week on week, but what we showed here is that we do have a squad to really take us forward.”
Morgan said: “We showed that we a really good club and even with numerous people out - first team, second team, third team - it is about the squad, it is about team building and it is about amateur rugby, and we can still come here to Cleckheaton, who are a strong team and never stop trying, and pull off a win.
“We are rotating players and we proved that we are doing something right and there is more to come, but it is one game at a time and if we don’t win next time then we try and win the week after.
“We don’t look too far ahead, see who is available and change our game plan.”
Hicks said: “We will see where we are at Christmas.”
Wilson’s sin bin came as early as the seventh minute, but the hosts still took the lead with a 12th-minute penalty by fly half Dale Breakwell, Wilson returning to the pitch before Breakwell landed a second penalty in the 18th minute.
Ilkley centre Morgan pushed a penalty just wide of the posts five minutes later before landing successful kicks in the 30th and 36th minutes to level matters.
Cleckheaton regained the lead with a fluid attack four minutes after that, full back Dom Brambani running laterally from right to left before finding Hainsworth, who put Hayward over, but Morgan’s third penalty just before the interval made the half-time score 11-9.
Marshall’s first-minute interception effort down the right wing in the second half, superbly converted from the touchline by Breakwell, was a blow to the solar plexus for Ilkley, with Breakwell adding a penalty four minutes later to make it 21-9.
However, the sin-binning of Cleck veteran Turner was the start of the visitors’ revival, with Brown scoring down the right wing in the 50th minute, Booth bagging their second try 10 minutes later after he started the attack, with Morgan’s conversion levelling matters at 21-21.
Marshall was sin-binned in the aftermath of that attack and, with momentum now firmly in Ilkley’s favour against the depleted hosts, Clark’s try in the 62nd minute gave them a lead they would not relinquish, Hainsworth being yellow carded after that score.
Popely rubbed salt in the wounds with a try six minutes later, Morgan converting, with Seddon seeing yellow as a result as Cleck’s ill-discipline mounted.
Ilkley’s man of the match, lock Jack Hamilton, was in rampant mood by now, and Carpenter crossed in the 75th minute, Morgan again converting, with Oldroyd’s try a mere consolation before Brown went into the referee’s book in what was the final act.
Cleckheaton began the day in eighth place, two points ahead of Ilkley, who were ninth, but a third loss in four matches, and their first at home this season, means that Cleck have dropped to ninth, three points and three places behind Ilkley, who thus won their first away match of the season and their third in four games overall.
Ilkley’s first XV have no game this coming weekend, but return to action in another derby at home to fourth-placed Huddersfield on Saturday, November 30.
Comments