WINGER Paul Petchey scored five tries as Ilkley shrugged off the memories of their poor performance at Northern to record a comfortable 48-16 win against old rivals Driffield at Stacks Field in an encounter that was not quite as one-sided as the scoreline might suggest.

Petchey was involved right from the start, going close in the first five minutes, but he wasn’t to be denied for long. When Ilkley won the resultant line-out he entered the line at speed to touch down. Josh Kimber’s conversion made it 7-0.

Driffield opened their account when full back Robin Kitching slotted a penalty to reduce the arrears when Ilkley were penalised for holding on.

The Dalesmen are a formidable force on their own ground and responded with a second Petchey try. The winger took Collard’s pass from a ruck to make it 12-3.

The Dalesmen were clearly up for the game and the tackles went in with a pleasing show of intent. The Driffield forwards were being hit backwards time and time again, but it was the visitors who scored next.

Ilkley lost their own line-out and Driffield’s stand-off Harvey Harding broke free to offload to Kitching, who touched down. The conversion was missed but the Dalesmen’s lead was cut to 12-8.

The remainder of the half was close fought until a hack through from defence led to an Ilkley line-out. A forward pass spoilt the initial move but, despite some stout defence by the visitors, the Ilkley pressure finally told as skipper Stuart Vincent joined the line in the centre to touch down, following sterling work from the Ilkley pack, whose 20-metre drive from the line-out set up the backs perfectly.

In a blink of an eye, the Dalesmen went further ahead when Driffield’s kick-off didn’t go ten metres.

Ilkley lost the scrum against the head but a loose Driffield pass was scooped up by the predatory Petchey, whose hat-trick score gave his side a bonus point and a half-time lead of 24-8.

When the home backs strayed offside early in the second half, Kitching’s penalty reduced the deficit to 24-11 This clearly riled the Ilkley pack and a marvellous drive upfield led to Petchey’s fourth try as the winger capitalised on some lovely handling to touch down with aplomb.

At 29-11 the game seemed as good as won but the visitors had other ideas and, having lost a couple more of their own line-outs, the home side succumbed to a bit of a suckers’ try when 17-year-old Ben Blacker scooted over for a well-worked touchdown.

At this stage, Ilkley really needed to score next and indeed they did, though it took a while coming.

With Stevie Graham replaced, Tom Baxter was tasked with throwing in.

With Ilkley rampant now, Kitching was given ten minutes for a deliberate knock-on and eventually the extra man told, J-H Johnson picking up a loose ball in his own half and outpacing the defence for a great try.

As darkness descended, Driffield capitulated and shipped another brace of tries. Despite another lost line-out, Collard fielded a wayward clearance kick and fed replacement Ben Magee. The young winger set up Petchey for his fifth try of the day. Kimber converted in the gathering gloom.

There remained just one more score, notched by Steve Nolson who showed a lovely change of pace to score under the posts. The try was set up by some great driving from the forwards and Kimber’s conversion closed the scoring at 48-16.

This was a performance more in keeping with what this side is capable of. Driffield are no mugs, but they were comprehensibly outplayed by a side eager to impress.