Elks suffer second half slump

The Elks travelled to Lincoln and for 40 minutes all was well as they held a narrow 12-7 lead, a disastrous second half saw Lincoln pull clear and run out 33-12 winners.

Elks began well in the bright sunshine and were soon ahead with a score by Alex Ayres following a series of forward drives and good recycling, the extras missed making it 0-5 after 8 mins.

Lincolns response was quick as they moved the ball left and out witted the Elks defence to score down the left, the conversion was well struck making it 7-5 after 13 mins.

Elks were soon back on the attack from a break by Tom Pottinger, Jake Lamb continued the move down the left hand side and the ball moved to the wing, a poor final pass saw the move halted.

Pottinger was soon involved again showing great speed and footwork, this time it was a knock on preventing further progress, the Elks were seeing plenty of possession but loose passes and knock on’s made it a stop-start game. The line out was also functioning well but breakdowns were slow and scrappy enabling Lincoln to slow the game down.

Elks got a deserved second try when Lamb burst through in midfield and brushed aside two tackles to score under the posts, Lamb converted his own try to make it 7-12 after 30 mins.

Lincoln responded well with some attacking driving mauls but the Elks defence held firm and at half time it was 7-12.

Lincoln dominated the opening minutes of the first half but good defence held them out, a break from Aidan Morris took Elks into the Lincoln half but the ball was knocked on soon after, Lincoln then had a good spell and were camped in the Elks 22, after a series of forward drives they crashed through to score on 60 mins, extras added making it 14-12.

The last 20 minutes were a disaster for the Elks as first they let a hopeful kick bounce and Lincoln gathered to sprint away and score under the posts then conceded a penalty try from a scrum bringing the score to 28-12 after 75 mins, there was still time for a final Lincoln score which was unconverted making it 33-12 at the final whistle.

A real tale of a game of two halves as after 40 mins the Elks looked well capable of winning but a poor second half saw Lincoln run away with the game, there were key players missing and injuries during the game which didn’t help but the second half was not great viewing. Pottinger and Lamb shone in the first half but Man of the Match goes to Aidan Norris who never gave up and stood out especially in the second half when it was backs to the wall.

Next week sees a chance to come back fighting with a home cup game against Long Eaton, this is now a Friday night game kick off 7.30, lets turn up in force to cheer on the lads.