Powerful and well organised in defence, potent and inventive in attack this was a very polished performance by the home side that left the faithful in attendance full of praise and appreciation. At times the flowing attack of the hosts was sublime as backs and forwards alike showed comfort and skill with the ball in hand as several crowd pleasing scores were mixed together with “ugly but effective”, as described by the admiring visiting support, catch and drives from line outs which only served to confirm the Ilkeston packs dominance over their rivals.

In many ways the 45 – 3 score line did not truly reflect the Elks superiority.

The opening score came after just 2 minutes when the Rasen defence made a mess of gathering a Joel Haigh box kick and man of the match Jake Lamb was on hand to snatch the ball and start a series of midfield drives by the forwards. Good control at the breakdown allowed Greg Taylor to burst through the visitors back line before passing to his brother Lewis who beat the full back with ease to touch down. Haigh maintained his excellent kicking form of the previous week to convert the try.

No more than 5 minutes later and the hosts went further ahead as great work at the break down produced turnover ball which was first spread to the right wing and then reversed the other way stretching the visitors defence. Fast hands across the back line witnessed the ball arrive with Lewis Taylor in space. This impressive finisher still had work to do as he brushed off his opposite number and for the second time in 5 minutes beat the full back to score which Haigh duly converted.

On the 10 minute mark Market Rasen finally got into the game as Ilkeston were caught in possession on their own 22 and yielded a penalty which the visitors accepted and posted what turned out to be their only points.

Ilkeston were quick to strike back as more aggressive thrusts in the middle of the park released the Elks running game which this time was held up by the Rasen defence albeit it illegally. The resulting penalty was driven into the corner by Lamb. The ball was secured comfortably from the line out and the result was almost inevitable as the forwards marched relentlessly towards the try line. Prop Ben Wells emerged from the bottom of the pile ball in hand having touched down.

Less than 15 minutes into the game and Ilkeston were 19 – 3 ahead.

Around the 20 minute mark the hosts posted their fourth try in what turned out to be almost a carbon copy of the third the differences being the opposite side of the pitch and the scorer, captain Adam Corcoran.

The rest of the half produced a fairly lengthy period of rather scrappy play during which time the visitors battered away at a solid Ilkeston defence. This prolonged period of Rasen pressure yielded another kickable penalty which was spurned in favour of an attempt to secure maximum return. The home side disrupted the visitor’s line out and the chance slipped away.

As halt time approached a line out just inside the Market Rasen half afforded the irrepressible Haigh the opportunity to conjure a scoring chance for Hugh Smith. The pre-determined move was executed to perfection by the scrum half but the winger just failed to hang onto a pass that would have produced a stunning score.

The second half began as the first with an Ilkeston score within 2 minutes. Probing attacks and good ball retention by the forwards led to a typical Haigh sniping run. Steve Quinn took the ball on and broke several tackles to crash over the line. Haigh converted.

A feature of the early season has been the Elks ability to secure ball at the breakdown and the backs were involved in yet another turnover which led to the visitors Number 8 being yellow carded. Lamb kicked to touch which stimulated an almost inevitable passage of play as the forwards drove hard at the opponents. A second Lamb penalty followed and a beleaguered Rasen side were further placed under pressure deep in their 22. Line out, catch and drive, Corcoran try...copy and paste!!

Sorry...almost forgot to add Haigh converting superbly from the touch line.

From the restart the impressive Matt Watkins carried strongly deep into Rasen territory offloading to Smith who was stopped in his tracks. The ball was none the less secured and fed to Taylor, of the Lewis variety, who was eventually bundled into touch. Market Rasen subsequently made a mess of their clearance and yielded the ball to Ilkeston. From the resulting line out yet another catch and drive almost led to yet another Corcoran try!

Not to be denied Corcoran drove from the base of the resulting scrum and was again on hand at the breakdown to crash over the line for his hat trick try and his sides sixth.

Haigh converted and with more than a quarter of the game to play Ilkeston led 45 -3.

As it turned out this was to be the last score of the game as Market Rasen showed considerable character to take the game to Ilkeston for most of the remainder of the match. However, despite their best efforts the home side held firm. Several crunching tackles by the Taylors combined with a solid wall of determined defenders to keep the visitors at bay.

There were glimpses of brilliance from the home side; one particular passage of play worthy of mention involved most of the side as forwards and backs combined to show incredible sleight of hand (take a bow Messrs Fowkes and Moore) to first witness Alex Ayres and then Greg Taylor carry the attack to Market Rasen.

This was another accomplished performance by the Elks and the second week running that the opposition had failed to cross the line. Yes there are harder challenges ahead but for now let’s savour a fine start to the season which in recent weeks has witnessed Ilkeston play a style of rugby, not short of champagne moments, that has brought plaudits from opposition support.

Link to Ilkeston Advertiser report