Play-Off Clash As Ilkley Face Daisy Hill


Ilkley Town AFC host fellow play-off hopefuls Daisy Hill at the MPM Stadium this Saturday, as Sam Dexter’s side look for back-to-back victories after last week’s 4-2 away win against Cleator Moor, writes Evan Seaman.

All eyes will be on whether Tom Smith can keep up his impressive run of form - who has been lethal in front of goal lately - scoring six goals in the last three games including a hat-trick. 

Smith is a prime example of what Ilkley are trying to achieve at the club as he has graduated from the U21s and U23s into a regular first team player. Last campaign Smith scored 15 goals in his debut season at semi-professional level and his outstanding work ethic is proof that they believe in developing younger players.

Another unsung hero for Ilkley is Matt Swift who has been rock solid at the back, who has managed to rack up seven clean sheets already and two Man of the Match awards.

But it is also worth mentioning that The Baht’atters manager, Dexter, has been nominated for Non-League Manager of the Month for Yorkshire, alongside bigger names such as Danny Ellis’ Guiseley AFC, so we would like to congratulate him for his achievements and hope that the good results continue. 

These achievements have led Ilkley to third in the table, just one point off second place. However, there is still a long way to go, and they will not be resting on their laurels. 

Whereas for Daisy Hill, they will be hoping to improve recent results after winning just once out of their last six games and are in danger of slipping out of the playoff places. 

But Ilkley will still need to watch out for Daisy Hill’s star man, Connor Hughes, who has scored 13 goals in 13 starts so far this season.