Ilkeston Far Too Strong For Loughborough.

Loughborough kicked off with the slope in their favour and converted an early penalty for a ruck infringement. The Elks were then penalised for not binding at a scrum but the ball was turned over and Joel Haigh cleared. The next ten minutes were all spent around the half way line as both sides made mistakes in the contact area.

The first real break was by Matt McGuire, but Loughborough kicked clear only to be caught by Dan Mahoney who passed inside to Haigh on a break who then passed to Hugh Smith who sprinted clear to score on 15 minutes unconverted.

The Loughborough restart went straight out of play on the full and from the ensuing scrum the ball was fed wide and good hands by Jonathan Falls and Mahoney took the Elks deep into the 22 where Loughborough were penalised and Falls kicked the penalty on the 18 minute mark.

Loughborough then attacked and the Elks were penalised for side entry which was kicked on 20 minutes to make the score 8-6.

Ilkeston then came straight back on the attack and from a scrum, slick passing between Haigh and Jake Lamb put Greg Taylor through who probably could have scored but unselfishly put Falls in for the easier score on 27 minutes – converting his own try. The Elks then began to dominate most areas of the field and the opposition began to tire under the continued pressure, when the Loughborough scrum half was sin binned on 36 minutes as their penalty count increased. The penalty was kicked to touch, well caught and driven over the try line with Adam Corcoran coming up with the score on 37 minutes, unconverted.

The Elks were quickly into the attack again and a great move involving backs and forwards put Greg Taylor over on 40 minutes, unconverted to bring half time at 25-6. Two changes were made in the forwards as Paul Shoebridge & Ben Wells were replaced by Josh Meakin & Russ Garland.

Ilkeston, with the slope in the second half ran riot as Loughborough visibly tired and some great interplay from backs and forwards alike resulted in the Elks scoring a further 9 tries through Fowkes (43 minutes), Corcoran (54 minutes), Greg Taylor (56 minutes), Smith (61 minutes), Mahoney (64 minutes), Haigh (74 minutes), Falls (76 minutes), Lamb (78 minutes) and Falls (80 minutes).

Further changes in the second half were Shoebridge on for Matt Watkins, Wells on for Marc Moore and Watkins back on for Mahoney. With 4 of the tries being converted, the final score was 78-6.

This was not the ideal preparation for a tough away game at Towcestrians next week, but you can only beat what’s in front of you. Amongst many candidates for Man of the match Matt McGuire was outstanding in the loose which is impressive, playing at prop - so the award goes to him.

Nick Pettitt
Club President

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