Ilkley Juniors Under-10s A and B teams have had games against Silsden and Otley. The Silsden games came on a misersably cold day with strong winds and frequent sleet showers. League leaders Silsden A proved strong and skillful opposition and Ilkley went down 2-1.
A fairly even first-half saw Ilkley fortunate to reach the break with a 1-0 lead from a Liam Blenkhorn tap in.
Ilkley 'keeper Ross Walker thoroughly deserved his Man-of-the-Match award with a series of fine saves. The second-half saw Silsden begin to dominate and they had the stronger runners on a tiring surface.
Despite Walker's heroics Silsden scored twice to retain top spot in the league.
The B Team were disappointing against Silsden B drawing 2-2.
Apart from Peter Gilbert, awarded Man-of-the-Match for his determined running and tackling, Ilkley provided a lack lustre display.
The scoring of Silsden's second goal seemed to galvanise them however and a total transformation saw them pull back to 2-2 playing the aggressive and thoughtful football which has kept them at the top of the table throughout the season.
Andy Sharpe scored two memorable goals but Silsden almost snatched victory at the death.
Last Sunday with the majority of local fixtures called off due to the condition of pitches Ilkkley Under-10s were fortunate to find that groundsman Trevor Grange had prepared an excellent surface on their home pitch 'Little Wembley' for their meetings with Otley A and B
The A Team won 4-0 after an evenly contested first-half. Otley failed to score from any of the many chances created by their fine approach play.
Ilkley increasingly became the stronger side and Robert Cowey netted an impressive hat-trick and Liam Blenkhorn got the other.
In the B Team fixture a very tight first-half produced no goals but Ilkley quickly established complete control in the second to win 4-0 with goals from Andy Sharpe (2), Edward Ainscoe and Peter Gilbert. However, the team must start playing from the kick-off rather than waiting for the second-half.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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