Mistakes cost Elks dearly

More positional changes meant Lewis Taylor had his first start at fly half and Hugh Smith went to centre. Stephen Fowkes returned in the second row after a long absence due to injury.

Elks made a bright start and slick passing put Isaac Taylor in with a chance to score, unfortunately he was forced out over the dead ball line. Elks had all the early possession but could not score.

As has been the script for the season Market Rasen scored with their first attacking play, the Elks were penalised and the penalty struck cleanly on 19 mins to make it 0-3.

The Elks response was swift and following some good forward play Simon Bennett scored after 19 mins, unconverted to make it 3-5.

Market Rasen then came back and nearly scored in the left corner, they kept possession and moved the ball right and scored under the posts on 27 mins, converted to make it 5-10.

Elks were soon back on the attack with Dan Taylor, the ball was moved wide but knocked on. D Taylor was soon involved again with a midfield break and kick ahead forcing Market Rasen back into their 22, Elks moved the ball right and put Isaac Taylor into space who this time grounded the ball safely to level things up at 10-10 after 36 mins, conversion unconverted.

There then followed a key moment in the game when the Elks were on a great attack only to drop the ball and allow Market Rasen to counter attack and score wide on the left, the conversion was missed but crucially gave Market Rasen the lead at half time 10-15.

Market Rasen had a penalty chance after 42 mins but the kick fell short, again Elks were making most of the running but basic mistakes were frustrating players and coaches alike.

Market Rasen then capitalised on another Elks mistake to score after 57 mins, with the extras added it was 10-22 and the Elks facing a tough last quarter.

Market Rasen grew in confidence from this and were soon in the Elks 22, Elks turned over possession but could not hang on to the ball long enough to put real pressure on the opposition.

Elks were still seeing the lion’s share of the ball but could not execute that final pass to break through, Elks had a chance to get deep into Market Rasen 22 from a penalty but the ball was kicked dead rather summing up the day.

Elks were camped in the opposition 22 and following a series of penalties by Market Rasen the patience of the referee broke and he sin binned the No8.

Elks kicked to touch and Nick Gray took clean ball , with the man advantage Elks drove over the line with Bennett emerging with the ball for his second try, converted by Jack Partington to make it 17-22 after 70 mins.

Elks tried desperately in the last 10 minutes to get the vital score but poor handling was still breaking up play, Market Rasen battled hard to defend their lead and combined with some sloppy Elks play were able to hang on to their lead until the end, final score 17-22.

Following another defeat Elks slipped down to 10th in the table making next week’s game with Matlock a massive challenge, the team are creating plenty of chances to win games it is just the execution of the final plays that are not up to the normal standards. Credit to Market Rasen who took their limited chances well and on the day deserved their victory.

Simon Bennett was excellent at No8 but this week’s man of the match goes to Lewis Taylor who played very well at 10 and created plenty of chances for the backs which were not taken.

Let’s get to Matlock next week for what should be a cracker of a local derby. 2.15 kick off at Cromford Meadows.