ELKS STUMBLE TO DEFEAT

After the promise of the previous home game against Derby the Elks did not enjoy the trip down the M1 to Northampton. They failed to produce any penetration in the last friendly before the league campaign begins next weekend.
On a windy wet day which did not encourage free running the close quarter battle was comprehensively won by the outstanding Scouts back-row. Injuries and unavailablities had limited the Elks selection choices for the trip but the final score indicated that they have to rack up the effort and committment if the pre-season talk is to be believed.
The forwards struggled to dominate although the line out worked reasonably well all day. Despite leading 9-0 at half time, thanks to the boot of new signing Neil Stenhouse which included one penalty from within his own half, they failed to step up a gear in the second half and watched as Scouts returned 24 unanswered points