West Yorkshire League Premier Division: Oxenhope 4 Ilkley Town 1

OXENHOPE came from a goal down to beat Ilkley and go level on points with them as they look to fight their way out of trouble near the bottom.

Injuries plus work commitments again forced manager James Bailey into another changed line-up.

Ilkley started the brighter, dominating possession and reacting quicker to the second ball. The pressure told when Danny Bott curled the ball into the top right-hand corner from a free-kick 25 yards out, giving keeper Nick Hudson no chance.

This woke up the home side and saw them gaining more of the ball in the opposition’s half. On the half-hour Oxenhope levelled, Mark McGee whipping in an inviting corner which was headed home with conviction by skipper Lewis Hopkinson.

The home side continued to force the pace and were rewarded ten minutes later when Liam Dyson slid the ball into Joe Jalil, who calmly curled the ball with the outside of his right foot into the bottom corner.

Just before the break Oxenhope made it three. Jalil linked up with Joel Gallagher, who used his strength to turn his marker. His strike fell to Chris Day, who unselfishly set up Jonathan Clewes to smash the ball in.

Oxenhope were happy to sit on their lead after the break, with the new pairing of Dan Scott and Ross Chapman confident at the heart of the defence. The points were sealed when the tireless Clewes and Hopkinson forced the Ilkley defence into an error and the ever-willing Gallagher took full advantage, poking the ball over the line.

Oxenhope remain second from bottom but are only two points behind 11th placed Hunslet with games in hand on teams above them. They will need to display this kind of spirit as they look to steer clear of trouble.

At present Oxenhope have no game on Saturday, with other teams having district cup commitments.

Oxenhope: Hudson, White (Makinson), McGee M, Scott, Chapman, Hopkinson, Jalil (Ward), Clewes, Day (Williamson), Gallagher, Dyson.