Elks lock horns with Buzzard's talons in first draw of the league season.

Classic Drinks Man of the Match – Graham Chenoweth

The Elks made the long trip down the M1 for the second week in succession but at least came back with some points from a side that were sitting fourth in the table and had despatched the Elks’ local rivals Derby some two week previously. The pitch at Leighton Buzzard is similar to that at the Stute with a considerable drop along its length and with a strong wind blowing down the slope it was a racing certainty that the elements would hold the upper hand.
The Elks were forced into making several changes due to injuries and absentees but started brightly playing down the slope. The usual front row pairing of Mat McGuire and Marc Moore were joined by Gordon Pringle starting at tighthead whilst Graham Chenoweth made his debut appearance since signing in the summer in the second row with the returning Adam Stoker. Scott Rudkin was filling in at openside whilst the backs saw Lewis Taylor cover for injured brother Greg at fullback. The bench also had two rarely seen faces in Chris Clarke and Phil Ashford joining Alan Cook.
Within the first minute they had made inroads into home territory and with Scott Rudkin providing centre Dan Taylor with a neat pop pass out of the contact zone they forced a penalty at the breakdown. However, flyhalf JJ Connolly pulled the ball wide to leave the scoreboard blank although this inanimate object was to play an unusual role later in the game. The flyhalf made amends some three minutes later when the Elks produced some rather untidy lineout ball for Dan Taylor to again break the gain line and force a second penalty from which Connolly coolly stroked the ball over to open the scoring after five minutes.
Playing with much more confidence than lately the Elks took the game to the Buzzards and Chenoweth was prominent with his abrasive approach which gained him many metres with the ball in hand and lost him many friends in the home side put on their rears in the process. Counter attacking from whatever the home side tried to fashion a clever box kick from scrumhalf Joel Haigh was chased by Rudkin to earn a lineout in the bottom corner. But a free kick awarded for an offence only noted by the referee allowed Buzzard to clear their lines. However, the Elks were determined to stretch their lead and further aggressive driving from Chenoweth and Moore forced another penalty after ten minutes from which Connolly grabbed his second score to leave the score 0-6.
With good home support and determine to show that their recent good form had not left them the Buzzards up their pace and pushed the Elks back. Succumbing to their old habit of over complication the Elks gave away two quick penalties in their own half to allow an attempt from directly in front of the posts and the Buzzards opened their account after twelve minutes at 3-6. It took the Elks only three minutes to reply when a swift counter attack from deep involving Haigh, Ellis Hallam, Ben Gatehouse and Dan Taylor resulted in a quick tap penalty driven on by Captain Adam Corcoran and Chenoweth earning them another penalty which Connolly expertly drilled in from wide to stretch the lead back to 3-9.
With both sides determined to keep the ball alive and play rugby the flow was beginning to be interrupted by the incessant whistling of the referee who seemed intent on blowing for every minor technical infringement whilst missing several obvious transgressions and the frustration was being felt by both sets of players and supporters.
The home side showed the inventiveness and pace of their back division after seventeen minutes when they cleverly counter attacked, showed excellent handling and support skills, switched play and moved the ball across the full width of the pitch to score and drag themselves back into the game at 8-9.
In what appeared to the equivalent of two heavyweight boxers slugging it out on the ropes the Elks made a perfect restart and drove the Buzzards back for a lineout on the twenty two. A clean take by Steve Quinn and a well driven maul, marshalled expertly by scrumhalf Haigh, saw Captain Corcoran emerge with a broad smile and the ball from the bottom of the pile and claim the Elks first try which Connolly converted with a deft kick across the breeze to move them on to 8-16.
Despite the interruption of the game by the steady shrill of the referee’s whistle the first scrum didn’t occur until the twenty fourth minute from which the home side again showed their counter attacking skills and the situation was only saved by a last minute cover tackle by fullback Lewis Taylor save the Elks line. On the half hour Corcoran repeated his display of mauling skills when the earlier move was replicated following obstruction on Lewis Taylor and the clean take by Quinn. Connolly was again successful to further stretch the lead to 8-23.
Despite some effective game management by flyhalf Connolly making the best of the slope and the breeze the Buzzards would not settle and perch. They continued to counter attack and from one such excursion, deep into first half stoppage time, they got their rewards when a solid scrum and a worked set of phases off the base of the scrum led to score out wide for their No.8 to leave the half time score at 13-23. Little known to all concerned was that the referee was already adding things up rather differently which was to become apparent deep into the second half.
With the slope and the breeze behind them it was apparent that the Buzzards would try to open their wings and apply pressure from the start of the second period. With some poor handling on half way the Elks gave the ball away and from a speculative kick behind they also showed their repeated inability to deal with such situations. Failing to field the ball they scrambled the ball into touch, infringed in the lineout and subsequent maul and suffered the ignominy of having a penalty try awarded against them for presumably repeated offences. Despite the award the referee, luckily for the Elks, did not apply the law and send someone to the sin bin. Less than three minutes into the half the Buzzards had clawed the score back to 20-23.
The pressure continued as the Buzzards went in for the kill and the Elks inability to deal with the referee’s interpretation when the ball was on the floor continued to put undue pressure on them. After fifty seven minutes the pressure told when from a penalty awarded after a solid Buzzard scrum the scores were levelled at 23-23. It was at this time when bizarrely the referee pronounced the score not to be in agreement with that shown on the score board and pronounced it to be 20-23. Both sets of management, two reporters and the scoreboard operator were however singing from the same song sheet and were in agreement that 23-23 was correct.
The final half hour, including added time saw the Elks defend manfully and repel repeated attacks from the Buzzards circling to make the kill. After sixty nine minutes the Elks made two of their allowed three changes introducing Cook into the centre for Gatehouse and Phil Ashford into the back row for Rudkin. Cook immediately settled things down and steered the Elks to the final whistle which came in strange fashion. Ashford had made good inroads up the slope and taken the ball into the home half where the Elks set up a promising solid ruck. With the travelling support urging them to try and force a mistake and possibly gain a penalty attempt the ball had been secured at the base where Chenoweth asked the referee how long was left and what was the score. Receiving the reply of ‘last play and 20-23’ he loudly instructed Haigh to kick the ball dead and started to celebrate the ‘win’. Some five minutes later both managers, with the aid of their game notes, had persuaded the referee that it was actually 23-23 and the points shared with neither side scoring a bonus point.