TWO TRIES IN LAST FIFTEEN MINUTES SEES OFF ELKS

Classic Drinks Man of the Match – Rory Maddocks

After last weeks lacklustre performance at the Stute the Elks really had to step up to the plate, deliver an improved performance and come away from this weeks fixture with a vital two points to maintain their position above the hosts. The team lineup was a much revised version from that which appeared last week with Greg Taylor, Adam Stoker and Tom Holland all out due to injuries. Skipper Rich Burne and Scott Rudkin were also unavailable this week, meaning the captain’s armband passed to Adam Corcoran. The position was made worse before the first whistle when Ellis Hallam tweaked a hamstring during the warm up which saw Toby Fenn and Bryn Vernon starting with Chris Clarke, Gareth Lewis and Ellis Hallam on the bench.
The Elks started the game well and after a turnover from Dan Taylor they broke from inside their own twenty two and earned a penalty taking play into the Newark half. However, the home team soon regained possession and some indecision in defence nearly cost the Elks but Newark knocked on with the try line beckoning. From the base of the scrum Corcoran and scrum half Joel Haig combined in moving the ball to Dan Mahoney who found Dan Taylor leaving him to make a good break. The ball was then passed inside but the move was stopped from developing as the Newark defence stepped in and provided the ball which they took back at the Elks. They then proceeded to lose possession and good clearance kick from Haig stopped the threat.
A midfield line out saw the ball moved out to Dan Taylor who, with a powerful run, was stopped just short but the ball was taken on by Rory Maddocks in close support who then passed back to Dan Taylor leaving him to complete his hard work and open the Elks account after twenty minutes. The conversion was missed by fly half Andy Thompson making the score 0-5. From the deep restart a good box kick from Joel Haig temporarily cleared the lines and the ensuing passage of play some good tackling by the Elks to keep their lead. However, a penalty awarded for offside was given to Newark but the kick was missed. Spurred on by the chance, Newark stepped the pace up a gear making a good break through the middle, the Elks tackled strongly but gave away the put in to the scrum following a knock on. The Elks’ front row of Jason Falls, Marc Moore and Mat McGuire appeared to be under heavy pressure and with the one of the Elks breaking off early another penalty was awarded to the home team. Taken by Newark’s right wing Aloesi Waqalevu the ball just clipped the post letting and bounced over to make the score 3-5 after twenty nine minutes. Ilkeston were soon back in the lead though thanks to a penalty kick from Thompson, again for offside to stretch the visitors lead to 3-8 within two minutes.
Eight minutes before the halftime whistle the Elks were reduced to fourteen men as Bryn Vernon received the yellow card for being deemed offside despite appearing to come through the middle of the ruck when the ball was bouncing around under no control behind the pile of bodies. Luckily for the Elks the simple penalty was again missed. Seven minutes from the interval the extra man told as centre Ed Collishaw scored a try for the home team which was converted by Waqalevu, leaving the Elks trailing 10-8 at the end of the first half.
The second half saw the home team start well and force the Elks to defend, fortunately for the visitors no further points were scored before they returned to full strength. This seemed to spur the Elks on a good covering tackle from Lewis Taylor followed by a good series of inter-passing being strung together promised much but the Elks made little forward movement and play stayed in their own half. This resulted in another penalty attempt for Newark as the Elks were punished for not rolling away in a tackle, but luckily this was missed again by Waqalevu.
As the game moved into midfield, countless tackles were missed by the Elks leaving Newark free to make a run down the wing and go over in the far corner nine minute into the half. The conversion was successfully executed taking the score to 17-8. Another good lineout, where Paul Shoebridge, Bryn Vernon and Steve Quinn were enjoying a productive afternoon, saw the ball moved wide for the Elks. A half tackle from Newark temporarily stopped the Elks’ progress but following the ruck the ball was moved the same way to Rory Maddocks who put Toby Fenn into the corner, the conversion was missed by Andy Thompson leaving the score at 17-13 on fifty two minutes. As the Elks began to close the gap on the score sheet it seemed to inject a bit more hunger and urgency into their game with good play following a clever box kick from Haig. Moore and Quinn combined to move the ball wide from a lineout to Dan Mahoney who was tackled into touch just short in the corner. The Elks continued to produce some good play with a string of good passes concluding in a penalty in front of the posts, which was well taken by Thompson with the gap now down to a single point at 17-16 with fifteen minutes left.
However, Newark were determined not to let their lead slip away and Ilkeston’s failure to find touch from an attempted clearance kick gave the ball straight back to Newark allowing them move the ball across the width of the pitch and fly over in the far corner without a hint of defensive resistance and move the score on to 22-16. Their continued and in the very last minute of the game they scored another try but again missed the conversion leaving the final score at 27-16.
The Elks showed improvement over last week and played relatively well in a game that failed to spark any real excitement as both teams failed to put together any passage of play for long periods. They perhaps deserved to leave with a point but with some under par defending, together with some questionable decisions from the referee the Elks walked away empty handed.