NCEL- Game 24
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18/01/25 - Ilkley Town vs Wombwell Town
After three postponements to start 2025 the Wellers finally got their first calendar year game played. It came with a visit to fellow high-flyers Ilkley Town, who sit on the same points as Wombwell, although our hosts have played three more games, thanks in part to their 3G pitch facilities. Having played twice in 2025, it was no surprise that Ilkley had slightly better fitness, and in the end that could be the reason for the late equaliser. The game started brightly for the Wellers with captain Jack Dando playing Liam Owen through the middle, only for the midfielder to scuff his shot wide of the left upright after two minutes. Just before the tenth minute mark good passing between Josh Nodder and Danny Youel saw Eddie Agnew played into the box, but his effort went agonisingly over the crossbar. Danny Patterson’s free kick on 22 minutes bounced around the penalty area before Owen Fieldsend’s header was eventually smothered by the collecting arms of Ilkley keeper Keen. Half Time: 0-0 After the well balanced first half, continuous fouls by the home side saw a flurry of bookings that eventual led to Ilkley Josh Parker picking up two bookings in the space of nine minutes. The dismissal saw a Nodder free kick headed over by Agnew as the visitors looked to take control. In the 65th minute a left hand cross by Fieldsend found Jordan Kershaw with plenty of time to deceive the keeper and slot into the bottom right corner to give Wombwell Town the lead. Several other attacking chances were snuffed out by an eager young assistant who waved for offside every time an Ilkley player shouted for it, despite defenders standing on the back of the Wellers’ man on a couple of occasions. One chance that went begging came on 72 minutes as Kershaw broke into the box one more, and his cross in front of the six-yard box was headed wide by substitute Nick Guest. A foul by Dando on the edge of the area with 12 minutes remaining gave Ilkley the chance to equalise. While the free kick hit the wall a stray Ilkley player, who looked two yards offside at the time of the free kick, was able to hit in the loose ball past keeper Charlie Preston who could not believe the flag wasn’t raised. The save of the game came with a minute remaining as Keen denied Kershaw from scoring his second goal with a leg save that kept the game equal at full time. Ilkley Town - 1 Kevin Gonzalez 79 Wombwell Town - 1 Jordan Kershaw 64 Attendance: 90
Images from this season can be found on the Gallery page.
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