Farsley Celtic took the trip over Ilkley Moor on Sunday to take on a strong Ilkley team, eager to get revenge for County Cup defeat earlier in the season.

It was a bitingly cold afternoon but the girls were up from it from the very first whistle and were straight at Ilkley with some nice play to force an early freekick.

This was the first chance for Lauren Rigby to sprinkle some of her magic on the occasion with a free kick that flew into the top corner in the very first minute and we did not have to wait long for her second which came from all of thirty yards to stun the hosts in the early proceedings.

Unfortunately by half time we had lost one player to a serious injury – get well soon Celma! – and Ilkley had hit back twice to have things level at the break at 2-2.

The second half started brightly with Farsley forcing some strong saves from the Ilkley goalkeeper before the day’s Player of the Match Amyleigh Pearce received the ball on the edge of the area which she then looped into the back of the net to give us the lead once again.

Unfortunately though it was not to be held onto for long. Injury to Ellie Edwards meant that we were left with no fit substitutes and Ilkley struck 3 goals in 15 minutes including a penalty to turn the game on it’s head and leave us chasing the result.

This definitely provoked a reaction amongst the Farsley team but the combination of cold weather and tired legs left a little too much to be done despite Evie Smith poking home a consolation goal in injury time to tighten things up.

The team could be proud of their performance though in testing conditions and overcoming the injury setbacks suffered on the 4G pitch at Ilkley.

Next up for The Celts we are hosting Goole Women in a West Riding County Women’s Football League Cup match at 2pm on Sunday the 3rd of December.