ELKS OVERCOME MATLOCK IN DERBYSHIRE CLASH

Classic Drinks Man of the Match – Andy Thompson

After returning to winning ways last week at Market Bosworth the Elks were looking to remain in good form and notch up their first home win since November. On a cold but sunny afternoon at the Stute the Elks hosted Matlock who were lying twelfth in the table. The earlier meeting of the season between these two teams saw the Elks come from 17-0 down to produce a late surge and score 17 points in the final ten minutes of the game, to take away a point much to Matlock’s dismay. This, no doubt, meant that the visitors were looking for some sweet revenge and to start their climb out of the relegation zone. The home team were fielding a strong side with Adam Corcoran taking on the captains armband in the absence of unavailable skipper Rich Burne. The game was preceded by a minute’s silence which was held for Ilkeston soldier David Greenhalgh who tragically died in Afghanistan this week.
The game kicked off with a rather sloppy start, neither team unable to settle into their patterns and failing to put together a series of phases. The ball in fact, spent more time off the pitch and bouncing over cars in the first five minutes than it did on the field. Two attempts by Matlock to move from deep were both stopped by Greg Taylor interventions and tap tackles when they looked as they might open their account as they played down the hill. The Elk’s failure to find touch on too many occasions saw them being pinned back into their own half and forced to defend.
A break through midfield from Greg Taylor saw the ball being moved on to Dan Mahoney who earned a penalty when Matlock transgressed in the tackle. However, the simple looking attempt was missed by Joel Haigh from in front of the posts. Dan Taylor went on to counter from a poor Matlock clearance gaining another penalty for the Elks. This time it was taken by Andy Thompson but the outcome was still the same as he failed to turn it into points. After five minutes of Elk’s pressure asking Matlock to defend, play was soon moved back down the slope as they again pushed the Elks back into their own half.
In the thirty third minute Matlock went up a gear, put together some phases and made good ground resulting in them being awarded a penalty which Chris Young converted to open the scoring at 0-3. The game was proving to be something of turnaround for the Elks as their previous few games had followed the pattern of a promising opening period followed by a gradual loss of confidence allowing the opposition to come back into the game. However, this week saw them start slowly and as play continued Matlock gained possession in the middle, pushed forward and with the Elks displaying some poor defensive skills and unable to snuff out the threat left Matlock free to go over in the corner for a try. With the conversion missed the visitors had opened up a 0-8 lead. Just before the half time whistle the Elks threatened the Matlock line when a break from Mahoney saw him find Ellis Hallam on an inside line but he was shepherd into the corner with the last play of half and the visitors leading 0-8.
Playing down the slope the second half kicked started much brighter for Ilkeston, with a number of phases and drives from Adam Stoker and Mat McGuire and a touch of class from Greg Taylor,when he ghosted through the slightest of gaps to score between the posts leaving Thompson to complete the conversion and take the score to 7-8 within first five minutes of the half. Good play continued to flow from the Elks and after forty eight minutes, from a solid scrum close in, Simon Bennett picked up and fed Haigh whose quick pass to Thompson left him to throw a dummy and shimmy over. With the fly-half successfully converting his own try the score moved on to 14-8 thirteen minutes into the half. The Elks then made their first replacement of the game with Jason Falls replacing Tom Holland at tight-head.
The vociferous crowd now believed that the template of recent home matches was being cast aside in favour of long awaited winning form at the Stute. However, Matlock had other ideas and were not about to make things easy for the Elks and a scrum close to the line saw them maul their way over for a try and the resulting conversion taken by Young left the Elks behind once more with the score at a tight 14-15. With fifteen minutes left to play the home team were forced into a second replacement with Steve Quinn going on for the injured Bennett who appeared to have pulled his groin.
Another error by Matlock in the tackle zone presented the Elks with a penalty kick which Thompson took effectively, putting an extra three points on the score sheet and nudging them 17-15 ahead. With the Elks now sensing victory they upped the pace of a game and from a short lineout, cleanly taken by Paul Shoebridge, they moved the ball swiftly into midfield where the rampaging Rory Maddocks made a break and off-loaded in the tackle to Dan Taylor, who slid a clever reverse pass to his brother Greg Taylor for him to storm over between the posts. The conversion was taken by Thompson, who was putting in a man of the match performance, making the score line read 24-15 and to be greeted by thunderous applause from the home supporters. A further penalty followed for the Elks which was again was well taken by Thompson to stretch the lead to 27-15 after Matlock were punished for holding on in a tackle.
The visitors were nothing if not willing to show their mettle and were still fighting, determined to gain at least a point from the game. Their determination won through when in the last minutes of the match they mauled the ball from the twenty two and over the line for a converted making the score 27-22. The final few minutes were indeed nail biting and saw all advantages leaning in Matlock’s favour, but the Elks dug in and managed to hold on and clock up a winning performance at the Stute with no further additions to the score.

Match Report by Rochelle O’Dwyer