ELKS STRUGGLE IN SECOND HALF AGAIN

Classic Drinks Man of the Match – Steve Quinn

Just a few weeks ago it seemed the snow would never end and the pitch would remain forever frozen but eventually it all cleared and the Elks were finally able to start their first home game of the new decade and what a fixture to kick start the home games of the New Year with hosting local rivals Mansfield. Ilkeston Fencing sponsored the match and the Elks were fielding a full strength team, the scene was set for an epic encounter between the two sides.

The home team started down the slope and began the game in excellent form, dominating play and pushing Mansfield back in defence. The visitors were penalised several times for killing the ball and conceded a five metre scrum in the eleventh minute. With the Elks’ scrum dominating Joel Haigh fed Dan Taylor coming into the line at a sublime angle and he scored the first try of the game taking the ball over in the corner. Andy Thompson took the conversion putting the ball between the posts and opening score at 7-0.

Mansfield restarted the game but the Elks instantly gained possession with a pass being intercepted by Greg Taylor who fed centre partner Alan Cook. With a change of pace and a shimmy to unsettle the defender he fed a long pass on to Dan Mahoney who scored in the corner. Thompson missed the conversion leaving the score at 12-0 on fourteen minutes. The Elks were licking their lips and sensed a chance to dominate the game but minutes later a chance for the home side fell by the wayside as Dan Taylor passed out to his brother Lewis who failed to gather ball with the defence split and the line beckoning. Despite their early dominance the Elks would live to rue the inability to take their chance and they were harried into changing their pattern of play leaving coaches Scott Rudkin and Dave Hutchinson nonplussed on the sidelines.

In the thirty seventh minute Mansfield missed a simple penalty leaving the Elks to break back down the slope pushing to increase the lead they sped down the slope but a high tackle on Greg Taylor, which inexplicably earned no more than a penalty, on halfway led to a penalty for the home side which was missed by Thompson. With the Elks coming under increasing pressure just before the break Steve Quinn was sin binned for not retreating ten metres when Mansfield were attempting to take a quick penalty. In the last ten minutes of the half the Elks made a succession of mistakes and were struggling to resist the pressure from Mansfield and the half time break came as a short lived break.

From the restart the Elks were still a man down and it meant they were being forced into some desperate defending as Mansfield began the second half much the same as they ended the first with good pace, eager and determined to get on the score sheet. Just as the Elks were failing to control the visitors they took another blow with Alan Cook having to go off to receive treatment for a blood injury. Scott Rudkin came on to temporarily fill the void but the pressure from Mansfield paid off as they gained a try wide out which was converted taking the score to 12-7 just five minutes after the beak.

The pressure continued to increase from Mansfield as they continued their ascendancy with the Elks’ usually dependant lineout struggling to produce ball and their scrum looking increasingly under pressure. Failure to clear their lines allowed Mansfield to maintain field position and from a pick and drive at the ruck they drew level with the simplest of tries. With a successful conversion the visitors were handed a two point lead putting the score at 12-14 after fifty five minutes. Immediately after, a penalty was awarded to the visitors for an infringement at the ruck. Sensing their chance the attempt was taken from half way and the kick crept over moving the score on to 12-17.

A substitution followed from the home team, perhaps with the hope that fresh legs would inject some much-needed life into their efforts, Marc Moore went on to replace Tom Holland. For a short while this seemed to work with Rich Burne earning a penalty on twenty two metres. However the opportunity to get back in the game was missed by Thompson.

A succession of errors by the Elks gifted Mansfield their third try of the game. The home side were putting on a poor display of missed passes, inept tackling and poor kicking out of defence all of which resulted in Mansfield scoring another try in the corner. From a team that looked so assured in the first twenty minutes the rest of the game had seen the Elks deteriorate into a side lacking cohesion, game sense and an ability to realise that if they had stuck to the game plan they would remain in the game. Minutes later another basic mistake led to Mansfield being gifted a further try and a successful conversion took the scoreboard onto 12-29. The Elks ineptitude meant that the visitors had managed to gain twenty nine points in just as many minutes.

Thirty three minutes into the second half Ilkeston made their second substitution with Thompson coming off to be replaced by Rudkin. The last ten minutes of the game saw a promising number of phases from the Elks who were at last starting to show the ambition they displayed in the first part of the match. However this again came to nothing with a knock on close to the line. The Elks continued to use the pick and drive and from the scrum the ball went wide to Dan Taylor who moved it on to Lewis Taylor to score in the corner. Joel Haigh successfully executed the conversion from the touchline taking the final score to 19-29. The Elks scrambled back some pride towards the end of the game but it was all too little too late. They need to get this disappointing run out of their system as, despite the thoughts of some pundits, they are not safe until the mathematics says so

Next week sees the Elks playing Derby at Haslams in the re-arranged league game which also counts as a Derbyshire Cup game. The kick off is thought to be 14:15 but this may be brought forward due to the Cup element and the chance of extra time.