Bosworth kicked off with the slope and were soon on the attack after a soft penalty gave them good field position. From the ensuing line out they caught and drove towards the Elks line and controlled the maul well and went over to score on 4 minutes. This was well converted to give them a 0-7 lead.

Elks looked to respond quickly and did so through Greg Taylor who made a nice midfield break only for the ball to be knocked. Bosworth kicked deep from the scrum and made it difficult for the elks to clear their lines.

Joel Haigh then made his first impression on the game with a smart box kick which Lewis Taylor chased well and won the ball back. There then followed another good break by G Taylor but the next pass went forward.

Elks were winning good ball but unforced errors were costing them dear. Play was concentrated mostly around half way with neither side in control.

Elks first real chance for points came from a blind side break by Haigh but the 2 on 1 overlap was not exploited.

Bosworth then had another good chance from a line out but the driving maul was this time well defended by the Elks.

Haigh then made another good break feeding Ryan Mills who beat 2 defenders and slipped the ball to G Taylor to score under the posts on 25mins, Haigh adding the conversion to level the scores at 7-7

Elks grew with confidence following the score and were soon on the attack with Haigh braking blind to feed Jonathan Falls who beat his man and fed Hugh Smith to sprint clear and score on 27 minutes, conversion missed leaving the score 12-7.

Bosworth looked to keep things tight in the forwards with a series of good drives but the Elks defence stood firm.

Elks were using the blind side well and Haigh again went blind linking with Adam Corcoran, they made good yardage but the ball was knocked on, allowing Bosworth to clear to half way.

The line out was won well by Steve Quinn and Haigh launched another attack, the Elks went through several phases and retained the ball well. Quinn then broke through the line and sprinted clear from the 22 to score on 40 minutes, Haigh missed the conversion to make it 17-7 at half time.

From the kick off Bosworth still looked to keep the ball in the forwards but Elks defended well with Corcoran making some great cover tackles.

Elks next possession was worked well on the right with Falls timing his run perfectly into the line to collect the ball and score on 48 minutes, conversion missed to make it 22-7

Bosworth refused to lie down and came back well on the left with only a knock on preventing a likely score. Dan Rollins replaced Jack Wilkinson and Simon Hallam replaced Ben Wells on 52 minutes.

Lewis Taylor then showed his pace with a counter attack from his own 22 that gave the Elks good territory in the Bosworth 22. Elks were now camped here and Bosworth were struggling to clear. Jonathan Down was fed from a ruck and made a great break beating 2 defenders and slipping a great pass to Falls to score on 60 minutes, Haigh converting to make it 29-7

Elks continued to dominate but both sides were making mistakes as the temperature dropped and the ball became harder to hang on to.

Wells replaced Mills on 66 minutes. Bosworth tried hard to get back in the game but were making too many basic errors. Haigh and Corcoran linked well from a scrum and the ball was quickly recycled and moved right for Dan Mahoney to find a gap and score on 75 minutes. Haigh added the extras to make it 36-7

Bosworth finished the game on the attack but could not find that bit extra to pierce the Elks defence and following a Bosworth knock on, the referee blew for full time.

This was a good response from the team following last week’s poor result, Haigh, Quinn and Greg Taylor all had excellent games but Corcoran got the nod for Man of the Match with some great play in attack and some hard graft in defence. This moves the Elks up to fourth in the table with table topping Bedford next to visit the Stute on Feb 16th 2.15 kick off, should be a great game!

Link to Ilkeston Advertiser report.

Link to Derby Telegraph report.

Link to Nottingham Post report.