A stunning stoppage-time strike from substitute Sam Twist earned Daisy Hill a dramatic 1-0 win at Ilkley Town in their North West Counties League First Division North clash on Saturday.

With five minutes of added time on the clock, a fantastic 40-yard shot from Twist snatched a sensational victory for Daisy, who had to play for almost 45 minutes with 10 men, after Malick Tanou was red carded early in the second half.

But a battling backs-to-the-wall performance kept at bay an Ilkley Town side who had only failed to score once in 12 games going into Saturday’s encounter, and Daisy manager Lee Hill was full of praise for his side’s display after the game.

“It was our most resolute performance of the season,” said Hill.

“In the first half I didn’t think we were great, and I told the lads at half time. I felt we were a little bit flat and not as intense as we have been.

“But what you can’t fault is the character, determination and individual desire to win balls when we went down to 10 men. Decision-making improved, too, and it was a good performance in the end.

“It shows that when the going gets tough and you go down to 10 men and are forced to make changes, that we can do that, and the lads can dig in together.

“You have take your hat off to (striker) Ryan Talbot, he worked tirelessly throughout the game, especially in the second half when we went down to 10 men.

“I tried to squeeze as much out of Ryan as I could, before bringing Sam Twist on, and Sam’s energy is tremendous.

“He’s got that ability and I didn’t want to bring him on too soon, I wanted to have that punch of energy late on. When I put him on, I said to him go on and win the game, and he obliged with a great finish.”

On a blustery afternoon in West Yorkshire, both sides largely cancelled one another out in the opening quarter of the game, with Daisy’s first clear chance arriving on 26 minutes, when a neat move led to Ben Howarth shooting wide from a Harvey Roberts cross.

Five minutes later Ryan Talbot got on the end of a Howarth cross, but Ilkley keeper Isaac Khan made a good block to deny the striker, and seven minutes from half time Khan was in action again to make a smart save from Amaan Malik’s shot.

Daisy keeper Morgan Newns had rarely been tested up to that point apart from fielding an overhit back pass from James Phillips, but he had to react quickly five minutes from the break to push away a fierce drive from Ilkley striker Kevin Gonzalez Mele.

However, once Daisy were reduced to 10 men, 10 minutes into the second half when Malick Tanou was red carded after a tangle with an Ilkley defender, Newns was by far the busier of the two keepers, as Ilkley pushed forward looking to exploit their one-man advantage.

Shabab Mehmeti and Joseph Edmonds both tested Newns from the edge of the box, and at the midway point in the half Ilkley danger man Mele could have done better with an effort that sailed over the bar from 12 yards.

Despite being pushed back to defend, Daisy still managed the occasional counter-attack, with Talbot the lone target up front, and with just under 20 minutes left, a break down the right from Howarth set up an opportunity for Talbot that was well blocked by the covering defender.

With seven minutes left Talbot was replaced by Sam Twist, who immediately injected some pace to the Daisy attacks, and as the game moved into stoppage time, he tested Ilkley keeper Khan with an angled drive that the keeper pushed away for a corner.

But in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Twist conjured up a moment of magic to win the game.

Collecting the ball just inside the Ilkley half, Twist spotted Ilkley keeper Khan was positioned on the edge of his penalty area, and from all of 40 yards executed a terrific long-range shot over the head of the stranded keeper into the net, to spark wild celebrations both on and off the field.

Daisy’s next game is tomorrow night when they host Rochdale in the first round of the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy (7.45pm)  .