REPORT BY: MATTHEW LAMBE

IN the penultimate game of the season, Ilkley Town AFC fell to a disappointing 4-0 loss to fellow Yorkshire outfit Steeton AFC.

The clash was finely poised at the interval, but a lacklustre second half performance saw the Baht’atters concede a further three – heightening the importance of the final game of the season.

The game began rather frantically, with both Ilkley and Steeton almost taking an early lead. Nathan Hunt beat his defender for pace but shot off target, while Raeece Ellington’s volley whistled wide.

Following a long spell of possession, Tom Fleming received the ball in a threatening position; he cut inside of Charlie Lloyd but was denied by a fingertip save from keeper James Catlow.

Ten minutes from half time, the Chevrons opened the scoring. A through ball put Arale Mohamed one on one, and found the bottom corner via the post with a powerful strike – giving the hosts a slender lead at the break.

The second half started at a much slower pace, with neither side able to test the goalkeepers.

Sam Dexter’s side had the first shot on target of the second half, courtesy of a stinging strike from skipper Harry Brown, but Catlow was once again equal to it.

However, Steeton were to score next, doubling their advantage. From a corner, centre back Jonny Hodgkinson rose highest to guide the ball into the back of the net.

Steeton almost added another in quick succession, but a well-timed challenge from Josh Parker denied Andrew Briggs. From the resulting corner, keeper Sam Blackiston dealt with the danger.

At the other end, the Baht’atters were unlucky to have not halved the deficit. A string of passes found substitute Ben Clarkson, but his effort failed to hit the target.

This miss proved costly, as within the space of a minute the hosts added a third to put the game out of sight. Josh McKiernon’s attempt took a deflection and rolled into the bottom corner.

The Chevrons bagged another approaching injury time. After Town failed to clear a free-kick, Briggs scored from close range to add insult to injury.

Speaking to the Ilkley Town website after the game, manager Sam Dexter said: “I think we deserved everything we got out of the game, which was absolutely nothing. I’m disappointed because we never really got going and I’d say that was our worst performance of the season.

“We looked disjointed, disorganised and we certainly didn’t look like a team pushing for the playoffs, but that can happen sometimes so it’s about moving swiftly on to turn our focus towards Saturday.

“Today’s game influences my thoughts ahead of Saturday; they’ll certainly be some changes that need to be made and I don’t think anybody can have any arguments with that. We’ll train this week, have a light recovery session and then go over some basics. We want to finish the season strongly.”

Despite the frustrating outcome, other results going in favour of Ilkley mean there is still all to play for in the final game of the campaign – South Liverpool at the MPM Stadium this Saturday, 15 April.