ELKS FAIL TO TROUBLE SCOREBOARD

Classic Drinks Man of the Match – Greg Taylor

With the Christmas holidays fast approaching the Elks were looking to erase the memories of the previous weeks defeat at Syston and end the last home game of 2009, entertaining second placed Syston, in winning form. From the outset this looked like a difficult task with an unrecognisable pack lining up as the starting fifteen. This was due to many of the Elks key players falling victim to injury; Tom Holland, Bryn Vernon, Adam Corcoran and Steve Quinn were all missing, along with the backs Joel Haig, JJ Connolly and Dan Taylor. With long term injuries depriving them of another four squad players the absentees made way for a debut from Andy Thompson, who had previously played one game in the Development XV since signing whilst Lee Jones and Rory Maddocks were also handed their first start of the season.

Play got off to a shaky start for the home team; with Syston dominating from the kick off and pushing the Elks back into their own half. The home team appeared to have things under control by defending a lineout but a second surge from the visitors was mauled over the line taking the score to 0-5 within the first four minutes of play. Shortly after they were awarded another chance to score with a penalty but the attempt was missed.

The visitors seemed to be winning the game of aerial ping-pong with more accurate kicking and continued to pin the Elks in their own twenty two. A clever cross field kick followed from Syston fly-half Craig Hewitt and with winger Chris Allen acrobatically jumping he collected the ball and raced into the corner on eighteen minutes taking the score to 0-10.

Play continued to be controlled by the away team, as the Elks lineout was not functioning and along with the scrums was not delivering any meaningful possession. Syston used their driving maul to gain their next score when lineout possession was again driven over by the visitors giving them their third try of the match and taking the score on to 0-15 after twenty five minutes as Hewitt missed the conversion.

After thirty eight minute the Elks managed to break away and develop a sequence of passing play together that took them into the Syston half of the pitch for only the third time in the game. However nothing came from the forwards interplay and the visitors were soon back in possession of the ball. However, a much quicker and involved Ilkeston were now pushing them in the breakdown zones and looking as though they might turn the tide. In the last couple of minutes of the first half the home team were putting together some phases and showing good skill to ask some questions of Syston and two strong runs by Dan Mahoney brought the Elks to life just before the halftime whistle.

After the break Ilkeston continued with the flair they had found at the end of the first half providing a promising start to the second forty minutes. Good hands and swift passing from Thompson and Scott Rudkin took play close to the line and overall they were enjoying much more possession then previously seen. The Elks were eager to keep up the pace of the game and get themselves on the score sheet however, basic handling mistakes continued to let them down and play soon became dominated by Syston once again. The luck of the home team continued to dwindle with two players receiving yellow cards within minutes of each other. Lee Jones, the first to be sin binned, was from an incident at a ruck, with the second booking going to Rory Maddocks on his first start for the club for killing the ball from a scrum.

The visitors took advantage of the difference in numbers and the Elks were again playing in their own half just ten minutes into the second half. A scrum against the head on the five metre line lead to a push over try from Hughes, with the conversion successfully executed the score line was taken to 0-22. The home team began to fight back, and managed to push forward, with Alan Cook and Mat McGuire combining to gain ground and win a lineout on Syston twenty two. However, the hard work was to no avail as Syston turned the ball over and with good handling through numerous phases out flanked the Elks with winger Allen scoring in the corner. With the conversion missed the score was taken to 0-27 after sixty five minutes.

Two minutes later Ilkeston made two substitutions Chris Clarke went on in the front row in place of Jason Falls and Steve Quinn replaced Jones. Just three minutes later The Elks made the last of their subs with Hugh Smith going on in place of Mahoney. The replacements failed to make a significant difference to the team as again possession remained with Syston for significant periods but the constant interruption of the whistle from referee Ashton prevented any real flow or pace from being created by either team.

In the final ten minutes of the game Thompson and Maddocks put together some good passages together for the Elks and Cook was free in a promising position but a forward pass to Greg Taylor brought the move to an end. From the scrum Syston were free to break and push forward from inside their half

Unfortunately there was not much entertainment coming from the pitch to warm the home crowd on an increasingly chilly December afternoon at the Stute, instead a festive mulled wine had to be relied upon to warm the cockles. This match will go down as the first home defeat of the season with the final score standing at 0-27.