ILKLEY supporters are left muttering questions as to what and why it has gone wrong after five defeats on the bounce and eight out of eleven at the halfway point of the current season.

Saturday’s match at Driffield started well enough with Harry Smith taking on kicking duties this week to allow club stalwart, the ever-versatile JH Johnson to concentrate on his restoration to the back row. Yet another wave on unavailability had prompted a re-jig.

Smith’s penalty goal gave the Dalesmen an early 3-0 lead. The lead lasted five minutes when, after a kick went straight out an Ilkley scrum was disrupted by a powerful Driffield front five to cough up a penalty to the Woldsmen. They opted for the touch kick and lineout and scored through a worryingly big hole in the Ilkley lineout. 5-3 to the hosts.

Another score followed as an Ilkley lineout was lost on halfway and a high kick swirling the increasing breeze was spilled giving Driffield a chance to spread the ball wide for a second try. 10-3.

Then a remarkable piece of high skill and foresight worthy of anything seen in Qatar saw Johnson hook his foot round the ball as it bobbled towards touch and send a back pass 20 metres to Smith who put debutant Keiran Wileyman on a great line to burst into the red zone. Wileyman found the charging Smith who set up a great position for his forwards to pummel the Driffield line at least six times before going over for the score. 10-8, with 20 minutes gone.

Ilkley now had their tails up and, for quarter of an hour, slugged it out giving a great account of themselves. A couple of unforced errors and a penalty kick that rattled the upright frustrated what looked something like a real resurgence by this Ilkley side.

The hosts would then cough up an easy penalty to increase their lead to 13-8.

Still there was an energy and desire in the Ilkley side. They won a penalty on halfway which Smith executed with aplomb. The kick of the match from halfway set up a lineout five metres out. Safely secured by the indefatigable skipper for the day Pete Erskine, the drive slowly but surely made its way up to and over the line aided and abetted by all bar two of the fifteen Ilkley players. The Dalesmen were back in front courtesy of Smith’s conversion. 15-13 at the break.

Whether it was the gathering gloom or a simple drop in concentration, Ilkley squandered a lineout on half way to set up a Driffield attack and they crossed the line for a try to go 18-15 up.

After striking a penalty to bring the scores back to 21-18, that was as good as it got in the final quarter for Ilkley, as their demoralised backline concede a flurry of tries and the hosts pushed onto win the game comfortably in the end, 43-18.

The Dalesmen’s second XV travelled with the 1st XV to Driffield with a young and inexperienced side depleted by late backwards and came off decidedly second best in a 75-0 defeat against a consistent Driffield second string side.