Ilkley, the regional champions, failed to progress to the Yorkshire final but showed real grit and determination at the semi-final stage.
In their first game against Otley they were quickly one try down. The forwards, Cockerham, Flynn, Atkinson, Brown, Bradley and Sands then began to dominate the game and drove Otley back. The pressure finally provided Cammarata with an opportunity to go over in the corner. Rhodes duly converted to equalise for Ilkley.
In the second game Ilkley met Hull Ionians. The forwards again were immense and won scrum after scrum. Ilkley failed to convert pressure into points and paid for it when Ionians scored the only try of the game from a breakaway.
With no chance of progressing, and with a final game against Yorkshire finalists' Doncaster, many sides would have collapsed. Ilkley, however, came out all guns blazing and took the fight to Doncaster. The forwards were magnificent, pushing the enormous Doncaster pack off the ball time after time.
Ilkley, however, had no cutting edge and failed to score. Whenever Doncaster got good ball Ilkley, notably through Monkman, Maclean and Simmons, tackled superbly to stop their progress. With Panteli and Strong aggressive in the centre and Holden tigerish on the wing, Ilkley competed for the entire game.
In the dying minutes of the game Ilkley were camped on their own line and time after time stopped Doncaster from scoring. Finally Doncaster managed to get the ball over the line. The boys had provided a feast of skilled and committed rugby that delighted the large crowd. The forward unit is probably the best in Yorkshire and seem undaunted by larger oppositions. When Ilkley find the key to unleashing the backs it will be a superb side.
Blackburn..................7
Ilkley U-12s...............14
Ilkley Under 12's gave a gutsy performance at Blackburn.They dominated the game and despite playing good rugby they were 7-0 down at half-time.
With the wind on their backs Ilkley pushed forward in the second-half and failed to take advantage of a number of opportunities. Finally Atkinson charged over the line to level the scores. With time running out Ilkley pressed forward for the winner. Simmons ghosted through the home defence and fed Bradley who dived over to give Ilkley a deserved victory.
Rhodes converted both tries to make the final score 14 - 7. The Ilkley forwards were dominant with Cockerham, Sands and Flynn in good form. The backs ran the ball well and tried to make use of the open spaces on this large pitch. Maclean kept the ball moving with Panteli, Cammarata and Holden always available to go forward.
Chorley..........................7
Ilkley U-12s.................42
In the second game of the day they met Chorley. Ilkley turned on the style and ran in six tries to win 42 -7. Try scorers were Atkinson, Strong, Pyle, Simmons, Monkman and Steer. Rhodes again converted all of the tries.
These were two good performances, and the side continues to develop an attractive and effective game using the forwards strength and the speed of their backs
Pocklington.............42
Ilkley U-13s ........... 10
In this game the score was no reflection of each side's performance. Ilkley U-13s played some of their best rugby of the season, and for 90 per cent of this game was the best side on the field. It was unfortunate that they were punished with six breakaway tries, scored mainly by one player.
Ilkley's first try was scored by Ben Leong who bravely fought off three Pocklington defenders to cross the line. The second try came from a penalty with Daniel Marston taking on the opposition before feeding Martin Reeds who sprinted over the line. Sean McKinlay was very unlucky and twice he put in some brilliant runs but lost the ball after he had crossed the line. On another occasion the Ilkley centres were poised to score when the referee mistakenly blew the whistle. These incidents epitomised Ilkley's poor look on the day.
Ilkley Under-13s have some fine individual players but all season we have been waiting for them to realise their potential as a team and in the last two weeks we have seen some very good team rugby.
Ilkley butcher David Lishman presented the Ilkley RUFC Under-9s and Under-12s squads with their Yorkshire District trophies.(Pictures left). David is a major sponsor of the Ilkley club's Junior Section and both these sides beat off strong opposition from Keighley, Wharfedale, Baildon, Skipton and Bradford and Bingley to win the trophies.
Chris Monkman, the Junior Chairman, said: 'The Ilkley RUFC Juniors continue to produce skilled individual players and more importantly superb teams. This success is achieved by committed and quality coaching supported by local businesses like David Lishman's.'
On a visit to Sunday training David said that he was delighted to be involved with such a flourishing club and was amazed by the commitment of both the boys and their coaches.
The Under-9 squad are in the Yorkshire Cup Final on Sunday.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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