Elks slip to first defeat

Elks kicked off with the slope and had a good period of possession and territory, ONs were penalised and Elks opted for the scrum instead of a shot at goal, Elks were penalised at the next breakdown and the chance gone.

Elks chance were not helped when Jono Falls was forced off with a hamstring injury.

Both sides were giving away too many penalties which led to a stop start game for the first 15 mins. ONs first real spell of pressure led to a driving maul in the Elks 22, the maul was halted illegally and Tom Southall yellow carded, ONs kicked the penalty for a 3-0 lead on 19 mins.

ONs came again from the kick off and despite the ball being dropped play was allowed to continue and good handling in the back line brought play to the Elks try line, the ball was recycled and the ONs 8 picked up and drove over in the corner on 21 mins, extras missed to make it 8-0.

Elks had more good possession in the ONs 22 but strong defence kept Elks out, the pressure mounted on ONs and after several quick penalties it was their turn to lose a man to the bin on 28 mins.

Elks continued to plug away and with Southall back on tried to take advantage of the extra man, despite long periods in the ONs 22 their defence maintained a strong line and kept Elks out.

ONs kicked clear from an Elks penalty and backchat from Elks gave them a long shot at goal, this fell short on 36 mins.

Elks did have the last attack of the half when the ball was moved down the line and recycled well, it was moved right and a lovely off load from Jack Partington gave Isaac Taylor a chance, he finished well and scored in the corner on the stroke of half time to make it 8-5, conversion missed from wide right.

Elks began the half well with Greg Taylor and Alex Ayres making good ground, silly mistakes were allowing ball to be turned over. From an Elks knock on the ONs scrum was pushed back but somehow the ONs 9 escaped the traffic and made a great break, the move was continued by their centre and when play was held up near the line they recycled and scored after 51 mins, extras added to make it 15-5.

ONs grew in confidence from this score and attacked in waves, they forced a 5 metre scrum and after several pick and drives forced their way over on 59 mins, again converted to stretch the lead to 22-5.

Elks had brief spells in ONs half but again mistakes allowed ONs to clear, Elks stole a line out and moved into the ONs 22 but a wrong option saw an overlap chance disappear.

Elks still kept trying to attack but ONs defence was strong throughout the game.

ONs had the final chance of the match when they moved the ball well across the backs and recycled several times to score in the corner on 78 mins, conversion missed to make the final score 27-5.

Despite plenty of effort the Elks rarely threatened to break the ONs line and lost to the better side on the day, Chris Tipton was one of few to stand out along with Isaac Taylor and Taylor gets the nod for Man of the Match due to showing great promise when he did get ball in space although these chances were too few.

Next week sees the visit of local rivals Paviors and the first lunch of the season sponsored by Colin Davis. Lunch at 1.00 kick off 3.00