Ilkley Fall Short At Sandal

The last match of the year and one for the Dalesmen to forget. Despite scoring four sparkling tries, team discipline was left on the bus and Sandal took full advantage, belying their lowly position in the league.

An astonishing 11 penalties were awarded against Ilkley in the first half alone, compared to just the 1 against Sandal.

Matters improved somewhat in the second half, but the ratio was still 7 to 4 and there is no doubt that the game was lost for that reason.Ilkley did well to soak up some early pressure from their hosts and went ahead with a well taken try by Freddie Clark, following a neat chip and gather from the returning Ben Magee. Louis Anderson converted and for five minutes, the lead was held.

It seemed that every time there was a breakdown, Ilkley were penalised. This had the double effect of knocking them off their stride, plus gifting territory to their opponents. The latter were keen to take advantage of this largesse and duly scored two converted tries, both by their workaholic Captain and Number Eight, Will Henshall.

Retaining possession well, the Sandal pack thought they had scored again, just before half-time, but the ball was held up and Ilkley were able to clear.

Playing uphill in the second half, sustained Ilkley pressure came to nought and when the ball went loose in the Sandal 22, some neat handling led eventually to full-back Tom Hodson going over near the posts. Hodson kicked the conversion and Ilkley were 21-7 down.

Back came the Dalesmen and it was their turn to break out, wingman Harry Taylor’s profiting from Magee’s and Clark’s handling skills. Over went the kick and Ilkley were back in the game, though not for long.

Ilkley won a scrum, but failed to control the ball, which was hacked through and gathered by the Ilkley defence. Holding on wasn’t a good idea under the circumstances and from the resulting penalty, Sandal rumbled over again for their bonus point try.

Shortly afterwards, poor tackling allowed Sandal to notch their fifth, Hodson making it five conversions from five, but Ilkley fought back.

Magee was late tackled and with the penalty being awarded where the ball landed, quick passing down the line allowed Taylor to grab his second, Anderson missing the conversion.

At 35-19, Ilkley looked out of it, a feeling which was reinforced when Hodson kicked an easy penalty with six minutes to play.

Those six minutes though belonged to the visitors and to their credit, they retained possession and recycled well, finally earning their reward when Magee completed a good backs’ move to score on the stroke of time. Anderson converted, leaving the final score 38-26 to Sandal, that last try at least gaining a bonus point for Ilkley.

So, not a great way to end the year, but at least Ilkley’s next game is at home, Middlesbrough being the opponents. The Dalesmen cruised home at the away match in early October and hopefully, they will be at full strength for the first time in quite a while.

Ilkley drop to fifth in the league, behind Blaydon on the same points, but having lost more matches. Finishing fourth is definitely within the grasp of this side, but clearly, discipline has to improve.

Image courtesy of Justin English at Sandal RUFC