Silsden powered their way into the West Riding Challenge Cup Final with an excellent display as they won 3-1 against Askern Miners Welfare at the County Ground.

But it was the Silsden lads who were caught napping in the first ten minutes. Askern broke away from some Silsden pressure to score an excellent first goal.

Silsden responded well to their wake-up call and began to take control of the game. Their confidence improved and led to a 20-minute spell where they threw everything at the Askern defence.

The football was fast, furious and very skilful and it seemed only a matter of time before they levelled the game.

Sure enough Jimmy Hedges took full advantage of an excellent cross from Martin Bland and blasted the ball into the Askern net from the edge of the six-yard box.

Silsden were now on a roll and Hedges added to his tally with a superb solo effort, cutting in from the right wing and beating a couple of defenders to strike the ball home with his left foot.

Askern were struggling to handle the Silsden attack and left Bland totally unmarked to receive a Mick Ward cross which he neatly put away with a powerful header to make the score 3-1 at half time.

Askern composed themselves and came out for the second half determined to get back in the game. It was now Silsden who were on the back foot but although Askern were strong in defence and midfield they showed little imagination up front and their chances were few.

Silsden put in a gutsy second half performance, defence and midfield battling well to keep the Askern attack at bay. They had a couple of breakaway chances but given their two-goal advantage, they were content to control the game and let their opponents do the work.

Silsden held out to keep their first half advantage, earning themselves a place in the Challenge Cup Final on Friday, May 10 where they will meet the winners of tonight's semi-final tie between Otley Town and Campion

Silsden manager Andy Geary was delighted with the result. "It was an excellent performance, I thought we were very professional and disciplined," he said.

"We expected Askern to come at us in the second half, and they did, but we stuck to our guns and earned a well-deserved victory".

Geary refused to single out individuals for praise. "It was an all round team performance, that's how we do things at Silsden," he added

Silsden's cup final place keeps alive their hopes for a unique treble - the Challenge Cup, Premiership title and the Keighley Cup.

Near neighbours Steeton are also on course for their own treble but with both sides meeting in the Keighley Cup, only one team can do it.

The local soccer season is heading towards an exciting climax.

Steeton are already through to the Challenge Trophy Final against Hunsworth on Friday, April 26 at 7.30pm at Fleet Lane, Woodlesford. Hunsworth beat Rawdon Old Boys 3-2 in the other semi-final on Tuesday night.