Ilkeston v Dronfield

In a game littered with mistakes the Elks struggled to find any real momentum eventually losing to Dronfield 15-23.

Dronfield were first to score with a well struck penalty after 5 mins making it 0-3.

Elk responded well with the pack dominant in the scrum, from one scrum they drove deep into the Dronfield half and when Dronfield were penalised for off side Jake Lamb kicked to the corner, Aidan Norris took clean ball and the pack drove towards the line, Dronfield were caught off side and Alex Ayres took a quick tap and forced his way over, extras missed but Elks were ahead 5-3 after 9 mins.

Elks then had a series of attacks with Lamb running strong but turn overs and knock on’s halted any scoring opportunities, Dronfield made the Elks pay the price for not scoring by launching an attack down the blind side, recycled the ball well and scored in the right corner, extras well kicked from out wide to make it 5-10 after 21 mins.

Despite playing uphill Dronfield were now seeing more of the ball and attacked through midfield, after several phases they worked the ball to the left to find acres of space to score in the corner, extras missed making it 5-15 after 33 mins.

Elks responded well and played the rest of the first half in the Dronfield 22, chances were created but all too often poor passes and knock on’s halted any scoring chances. HT 5-15.

The Elks needed to up their game after a flat first half and soon had 3 points with a Lamb penalty following an offside decision against Dronfield making it 8-15 after 46 mins.

Elks failed to build on this and make many mistakes trying to force the game, Dronfield were next to score with a penalty after Elks were offside, this made it 8-18 after 52 mins.

Elks tried to respond with Norris making several breaks but continued mistakes prevented any pressure being applied to Dronfield, they were next to have decent possession and from an attack on the left they recycled quickly and found space on the right to run in another score, making it 8-23 after 67 mins.

A quick score from Lamb gave the Elks some hope and he converted his own try to make it 12-23 after 69 mins. Elks threw everything at Dronfield in a bid for a losing bonus point but all they got was a penalty by Lamb on 76 mins making it 15-23, Dronfield held firm for the final minutes to run out 15-23 winners.

Not a great day for the Elks with numerous wrong options, knock on’s and misplaced passes. Although there were several positional changes the lads know they can be much better than this performance, Man of the Match went to Aidan Norris who took many clean line outs and led the way with ball carrying.

Next week sees an away trip to Southwell and a chance to get back on the winning trail.