ELKS WIN LEAGUE IN CLASSIC ENCOUNTER

Classic Wines and Spirits Man of the Match – Andrew Chapman

The mission was accomplished at the Stute on Saturday as the Elks overcame the stern test set by Coalville to claim promotion and the League Championship. In an end to end, non-stop, pulsating encounter, superbly controlled by referee Mr Dickens, the home side turned a half-time 14 – 22 deficit into a 34 – 22 victory. Once again the family business was in full swing as the Elks had three sets of brothers in the side with the fourth, the Newtons set, watching from the sidelines due to injury.

The intention was clear from the start with the Elk’s forwards clattering into their opposite numbers from the kick-off causing them to concede a penalty. The normally dependable Jono Falls pulled a relatively looking simple chance wide although the stiff breeze did have the upper hand. He repeated his error two minutes later when Greg Taylor’s midfield break forced Coalville to handle on the floor and give the younger Falls a second chance which he again missed.

Unconcerned by these setbacks the Elks did take the lead with a well worked try by Dan Taylor. From scrum close to the halfway line Rich Burne picked up and fed scrumhalf Andrew Chapman. Exploiting the space on the short side Chapman moved the ball to Greg Taylor who put Dan Mahoney away on the outside. As the tacklers converged Mahoney switched the ball back inside where Dan Taylor was on hand to speed over. Jono Falls found his range and converted to make it 7 – 0.

Making good use of the slope and wind Coalville put boot to ball and pinned the Elks inside their own half. The pressure paid when fly-half Measures kicked a penalty to reduce the arrears to 7 – 3.
As the sides vied for openings both sets of backs showed that there was pace and skill in all positions. A promising Elk’s attack ended in disaster when JJ Connolly’s attempted grubber kick inside the Coalville twenty-two was fielded by Coalville scrum-half Twigg, who impressed all afternoon, who broke from his own in-goal area to half way. Support was on hand to keep the ball alive and put winger Rice over close to the posts. Measure’s conversion gave the visitors a 7 – 10 lead, albeit with slope and wind to their favour.

Within three minutes the lead was reclaimed by a solo effort by fly-half Connolly. Adam Stoker’s lineout take was driven forward and when the ball finally reached Connolly, he spotted a gap, and seeing a gap, with a show and a shimmy, he was over. Jono Falls converted giving the Elks a narrow 14 – 10 advantage. However, the lead was short lived when from the restart Coalville’s centre White broke in midfield, fed fullback Richmond, whose pace took him clear of defenders to score and move Coalville back in front. Fly-half Measures converted putting the visitors into a 14 – 17 lead.

The Elks fought back and created two chances which could have regained the lead but Coalville’s defence held firm. First Adam Stoker, Mat McGuire and Andrew Chapman combined to create space for Dan Mahoney but as the line beckoned he was forced into touch with a covering tackle. The second chance also involved Chapman with Rich Burne, Bryn Locke and Craig Charlton in support but the ball was split in the tackle and the chance gone. As the Elks applied the large vocal crowd anticipated a score but not the one that arrived. From a good position inside the Coalville twenty-two the Elks lost the ball in contact and Twigg was again on hand to break out and race the length of the park and make the score 14 – 22 at the break.

Despite having the lions share of possession the Elks thanks to the sterling work of front row McGuire, Marc Moore and Charlton, ably supported by line-out jumpers Stoker, Locke and Steve Quinn the home side were deservedly behind due to the visitor’s ability to punish on the counter attack. The halftime break gave the Elk’s management team of Coach, Scott Rudkin, and Manager, Bob Garland, time to remind their charges of the need to play the percentage game and not take risks when the odds were stacked against them. With the breeze and slope to assist them the Elks tightened their game in the second half.

The ball was kept close to the forwards with Quinn, Burne and Steve Mahoney punching around the fringes of ruck and maul. When the ball was moved Alan Cook and Greg Taylor looked to established second phase ball in midfield and feed forward runners with Jason Falls, who had replaced Moore at hooker, and McGuire to the fore. When they were required to play from their own half the kicking prowess of Connolly and Greg Taylor allowed them to establish territorial advantage. The feat of denying Coalville any points in the second half was testimony to the success of the strategy.

Two missed penalties early in the half were scant reward for the pressure applied but the investment was repaid when driving play from Charlton and Steve Mahoney created possession from which Connolly coolly claimed a drop goal to bring the Elks to within five points. With twenty five minutes gone a strike against the head, by Jason Falls, inside the Coalville twenty two saw the ball moved quickly to outside centre Greg Taylor. His power and change of pace allowed him to crash over close to the posts with Connolly's conversion regaining the lead at 24 – 22.

Connolly increased the lead four minutes later when another dropped goal sailed between the posts after the ball had been secured and delivered to the fly-half after a clean Stoker line-out take. Adrian Montague replaced Locke to ensure the forward unit retained some power as the game reached a crescendo with all phases being contested with vim, verve and controlled aggression.
Supporter’s nerves were finally settled with thirty five minutes of the half gone when a Greg Taylor scored his second try. As Coalville looked to move the ball from inside their own twenty two, a crunching tackle from inside centre Cook caused Coalville’s White to spill the ball. His fellow centre Greg Taylor snapped up the loose ball and touched down between the posts. Connolly’s conversion gave the Elks the final score as youngster Gareth Lewis replaced Dan Mahoney on the wing. He was quickly into the action on the restart as he made a crunching tackle to halt another fast moving Coalville counter attack.

The final minutes ticked by before referee Dickens blew the whistle for the end of a hard fought, cleanly contested battle which saw the Elks return to the higher level as Champions to the delight of the all home supporters in the large crowd.