ELKS OUTPOWERED BY ALL BLACKS

Man of the match - Mat McGuire.

This was always going to be a close encounter with both sides having unbeaten records in their respective leagues. The home side play a level lower than the Elks, in Midlands 4E(South), but have won promotion for the last two seasons.
Ilkeston coaches Scott Rudkin and Lee Jones were in no doubt that it would a test of the Elks’ resolve with a side deprived of three first team regulars through unavailability. In addition the visitors were missing their normal extra man on the sidelines where the strength of their support can normally be relied upon to give them a boost. Not so on Saturday, where numbers were sadly low and largely relied on the presence of some of the Development side whose game was cancelled by the intended opposition on Friday for the third week running.

As the sides took to the field, with good support for the home side, the test awaiting the Elks was confirmed by the size of the home pack with no individual less than 6ft. Played on a forgiving surface and in fair weather the early stages of the game were a mixture of errors from both sides. However, it was apparent that the size and abrasiveness of the home pack was to be the key factor. This was further confirmed with the first scrum where the Elks lost the ball against the head, although the home side shove looked suspiciously early as it did all afternoon.

The midfield aerial ping-pong continued as both sides exchanged penalties in which Neil Stenhouse clearly had the kicking advantage over Harborough’s fly-half Selby. Gradually the home side applied more pressure through driving mauls but this was eventually relieved when the Elks were awarded another penalty for holding and Stenhouse cleared to half-way. From the ensuing line-out a clean take by Russ Garland led to the ball being passed smoothly through scrum-half Chris Kemsley to Neil Stenhouse, Alan Cook onto Scot Rudkin and then back to Stenhouse who had looped round. Setting up a ruck within the home 22m Harborough were penalised for diving over but Stenhouse missed the conversion from wide out after nine minutes. The Elks applied further pressure from a series of midfield pick and drives with the front-row of Gordon Pringle, Mat McGuire and Craig Charlton being prominent in making the hard yards. The momentum was lost with a knock-on after a clever cross field kick from Stenhouse found Cook. The visitors probed yet again after a long down field kick from fullback Dan Taylor forced Harborough fullback Bale to take the ball back into his own dead ball area and touch down. Elks’ problems in the set scrum continued when the ball was lost against the head and the home side cleared the danger. They were penalised again for playing the ball on the floor from the lineout. The ‘this way, that way’ nature of the game continued as the Elks then lost the ball on their throw but immediately turned over the Harborough possession from good work by Bryn Locke to move the ball infield where Stenhouse produced a drop-goal to take the lead 0 – 3 which he was still not convinced had gone between the posts after the game. The range of penalties given against both sides continued with Elks’ Chris Tipton, on his first team debut, being guilty too often. It was becoming apparent that the inconsistent application of the laws was causing problems for both sides and with the high penalty count it was only a matter of time before someone was going to receive a yellow card. The Elks were trying deft chips over the Harborough defence to turn the pack but without really applying pressure on the receiver. After a slightly shaky start, Elks’ second debutant, winger Hugh Smith, showed good composure in defence before being bundled into touch. Locke and Garland were providing some good lineout ball, managing to steal Harborough throws on a number of occasions.
Steve Mahoney required treatment to a shoulder injury after twenty six minutes and the high tackle count from the flanker along with Locke and McGuire was impressive.
On the half hour the Elks overthrew a lineout and were then penalised for offside but Harborough fly-half Selby missed the relatively easy kick. The defensive tackling of the Elks was again demonstrated after thirty three minutes when Cook again stemmed the attacking tide and won the ball back. Harborough were penalised at the ruck and Stenhouse slotted the penalty from fully 45m to give the Elks a 0 – 6 lead. Tipton was making relatively good ground from the base of the Elks scrum but the time allowed to release the ball at the breakdown appeared to be shorter than that granted to the home side. This gave Selby another relatively easy chance at goal but again the ball drifted wide. Just before the break Tipton transgressed once more and received the much expected yellow card.
With no changes made by the Elks during the break the second half started with another penalty awarded for hands in and Selby finally slotted the chance to make it 3 – 6 in the first minute. Stenhouse had a chance to increase the lead after forty three minutes after an illegal block following a kick but he pushed the ball wide to the left of the post. The Elks defended manfully in the first ten minutes of the second half in trying to make up for the extra man advantage held by Harborough. However, after forty seven minutes the pressure told as a break from a lineout and a missed midfield tackle gave Selby a chance but he was stopped just short. From the ruck Woodford dived over to give the home side the lead at 8 – 6. Selby’s kicking again let Harborough down as he missed the conversion. The Elks drove downfield after some good interplay by Ben Newton Locke and McGuire gaining a penalty in a good, kickable position. With coach Jones coming on with the tee and the crowd convinced that Stenhouse was to go for goal and restore the Elks’ lead he inexplicably decided to take a quick tap. Taking the ball right the Elks lost the ball almost immediately and the chance was gone. After fifty minutes an earlier hip injury to Garland led to his withdrawal from the field, being replaced by the Elks’ third debutant in Rich Burne. Tipton also returned to the fray after his spell in the sin-bin.
Selby missed another chance to stretch the home side’s lead after Dan Mahoney picked up in an offside position from a Taylor knock on. Burne was already beginning to make his presence felt in defence but the stand out factor of the Elks’ defence was the tackle count of hooker McGuire.
The match was progressively becoming a little irritated with both sides seemingly confused by the law interpretations of the referee. After sixty two minutes the Harborough pressure finally paid dividends when following a midfield ruck they switched the angle of attack and winger Green had the speed to get into the corner making the score 13 - 6. Selby was again unsuccessful with his kick for the conversion. Further good work from Locke, Taylor, Cook and Burne moved the Elks back into Harborough territory but the maul was held up over the try line. The Elks scrum was attacked by the Harborough pack resulting in Ben Newton being penalised for coming in at the side. Refusing to lie down the Elks again pressed through good work from Stenhouse and Rudkin giving Smith a chance to show his pace but the chance was lost as the ruck from the defensive tackle gave the Elks slow ball and the Harborough defence chance to regroup.
Elks’ scrumhalf Kemsley was replaced by Josh Newton on sixty eight minutes following a hand injury. The Elks were having their best period of the game and a reverse cross kick from Stenhouse threatened to put winger Dan Mahoney clear but he failed to gather the ball and Harborough cleared. The Elks won the lineout through Burne but were then penalised for excess rucking on the several Harborough bodies lying all over the wrong side of the breakdown. Coming back into the Harborough half the home side were again penalised for coming in from the side but the Elks expectancy of a yellow card for persistent infringement was unfulfilled.
A flourish of handbags at five paces on seventy five minutes led to Dan Mahoney and Harborough’s Smith receiving yellow cards. A minute later saw Charlton being replaced by Marc Moore. Harborough had the better of the final few minutes with a final burst of pressure but failed to improve their score leaving them the victors at 13 – 6 and progressing to Round 3.