U11's give good show at NLD Finals

Ilkeston under 11s after successfully qualifying for the 2010 NLD final held at Derby assembled a squad which they believed capable of winning the Shield. The freezing weather created a one and a half hour delay to the proceedings, but this didn't deter the young Elks.

First match was against Ashfield who unfortunately only had 10 eligible players. To ensure that fairness prevailed, Ilkeston were required to remove their wingers to even up the sides. Ashfield kicked off and immediately Ilkeston's forwards knocked on. This led to the first scrum. This scrum set the scene for the remainder of the matches as the solid forward pack of Aidan Norris, Felix Rasbusin, Cameron Greenfield, Billy Derbyshire and Robbie Boddington held, then drove the opposition off the ball to win possession. The first half remained an even affair until centre Tom Caines was able to break through the Ashfield defence to score. Half time came with Ilkeston leading 5-0. A quick turn around allowed for a short talk from the coaches and immediately from the kick off Ilkeston stepped up the pressure. Ashfield battled hard and with reduced team levels the spaces were appearing around the pitch. A lofted kick from Fly Half Issac Smith allowed Caines a sprint where he collected the ball out of the grasps of the full back to score in the corner with a lurch. Even though Ilkeston dominated this match Ashfield continued to apply pressure on the Elks and were finally rewarded with a try of their own but it was too little too late and Ilkeston ran out winners 10-5.

Cleethorpes were the next opposition, a team Ilkeston had never played before and having watched them play against Ashfield and beat them we knew we had a battle ahead. Both teams were now in the fortunate position to know they had progressed to the next round but this was the match to decide who continued in the Shield and who went to the Bowl. From the kick off Ilkeston kicked dead to hand possession straight to back to Cleethorpes with a scrum on half way. As in the previous match Ilkeston's forwards were unmoved even with the introduction of Alfie Cox as prop, neither did the formidable size difference between the players as Ilkeston tackled like demons. The quick penalties by Ilkeston worked well and the strong determined running through an abundance of missed tackles allowed Norris to score his first of the day. Cleethorpes were now starting to feel the pressure and a lurching run again by Caines allowed him to break the score in the corner. Half time came with Ilkeston leading 10-0. The second half commenced with an opposition deciding he did not want to return to the pitch even though he was uninjured, this meant that Ilkeston unfairly had to remove a player also. The second half was a comfortable half for Ilkeston and under no circumstances did the try line look likely to be breached. Final whistle came with Ilkeston winning 10-0 and were through to the Shield Semi-Final.

In the next game Ilkeston were met by the winners of group B Sleaford who similarly to ourselves had come through unbeaten but had also scored 10 tries without reply. The Sleaford players were substantially bigger than their Ilkeston counterparts and that was very apparent at the first ruck which Ilkeston had dominated all day when the Sleaford players steamed straight in and pushed the Elks straight back. The opposition continued with their dominance through the first half to score three unanswered tries. Unfortunately the Ilkeston players heads had dropped through this half and a brief pep talk at half time attempted to switch them back on. Half time scored Sleaford 15-0. The second half commenced with a higher spirited Ilkeston team performance as they tackled their hearts out. Ben Middleton, Derbyshire, Caines and Greenfield were constantly in the oppositions faces to attempt to turn the match around. Even with this pressure Sleaford were able to scored a further three tries to complete the rout and finish Sleaford winners 30-0. A despondent Ilkeston under 11's now needed to pick themselves up to ensure they completed the day as successfully as they had started with the third / fourth position play-off final.

This final match of the day after over six hours of attendance was against a strong Kesteven team. A shortened length match required that each team needed to ensure that they were quickly prepared and allowed for no mistakes. The Ilkeston team entering the field immediately showed the spectators that they were ready to return to winning ways. From the kick off Ilkeston applied pressure straight on the Kesteven players who in turn knocked on the catch. The scrummaging and in particular Rasbusin's hooking was back to it's effective ways as Ilkeston dominated every scrum. A wonderful passage of play commencing with Norris breaking and making 30 yards who in turn off loaded to Caines who made a further 15 yards and allowed Greenfield to rob and dive over the line to score. In a complete reverse of the previous match Ilkeston were the dominant team and the oppositions heads were dropping. The match was effectively over in the first half when Norris broke through six tackles to score in the corner and make the half time score Ilkeston leading 10-0. Through the second half all players involved played to their highest levels possible and ensured that when Zack Lebeter ran off into touch and the game ended that Ilkeston had again won and been unbreached.

Today was a whole squad performance with everybody offering a contribution to the whole team. The performances showed how well the whole squad including the players who were unavailable and in the case of Christopher Goodall who was ineligible had developed this season and each and every time a player entered the pitch they played for themselves, each other and represented the club of Ilkeston's with great aplomb. A finish as 3rd in the NLD Shield competition is a great reward for everybody involved.

The squad for the day: Aidan Norris, Alfie Cox, Ben Middleton, Billy Derbyshire, Cameron Greenfield, Christopher Goodall, Connor Corrigan, Felix Rasbusin, Issac Smith, Joseph Doughty, Liam Arnott-Clark, Luke Moore, Robbie Boddington, Sam Rose, Tom Caines and Zack Lebeter. All contributing and equal amount of performance towards the team results................................................'

Jon Doughty