Winning run continues against Paviors

Elks conceded an early penalty which gave a first chance of points but the kick fell short on 3 mins.

From a line out caught cleanly by Chris Tipton the Elks launched an attack, Pavs were caught offside and Elks kicked to the Pavs 22, Tipton took clean ball again and Dan Mahoney made a break, the ball was recycled and Pavs were caught offside, with Jono Falls missing Adam Corcoran stepped up to slot the kick and give Elks the lead after 9 mins 3-0.

Pavs came back strong and Elks were under pressure on their own 5 metre line, 2 penalties were concede and Pavs opted for a scrum, Elks were penalised again and the inevitable happened when the referee yellow carded Dan Bell on 16 mins as the penalties mounted up.

Pavs opted to scrummage but were turned over and Elks cleared, both sides were struggling to produce any quality play to take control of the game.

Elks produced another attack through Tom Pottinger and Jake Heath but the final pass went slightly forward.

From the scrum Pavs attacked but were turned over following good work from Alex Ayres, Jack Partington broke well and made 30 metres up field, at the breakdown Pavs were penalised and Jake Lamb converted to make it 6-0 after 26 mins.

Pavs kicked off and Tipton caught well and Elks attacked again, Elks gave a penalty away at the breakdown and Pavs kicked to touch, they caught the line and attacked in mid field, Elks were caught off side and Pavs converted the penalty to make it 6-3 after 33 mins. No further scores were registered before half time making it 6-3 at the break.

Elks now had the slope second half and were looking to improve from the first 40 mins, however both sides were conceding too many penalties and making individual errors when chances arose, this led to a very stop start game and not much in the way of entertainment for the large crowd.

Pavs were first to have a chance at points following an Elks penalty, the kick fell short on 53 mins. Toby Keep came on after 60 mins replacing Dan Bell

With the Elks failing to break Pavs down their confidence grew and they started to link some phases of play together. Pavs attacked down the left and recycled ball to find the winger in space, he squeezed in at the corner after 68 mins to put Pavs in the lead for the first time, the extras were missed making it 6-8.

Elks then had several attacks but some unusually poor handling stopped any momentum. Following another attack Pavs were penalised and Lamb signalled for goal, the kick was hooked left and the scores remained the same after 75 mins. Elks continued to attack and Pavs were penalised for not rolling away, this time Lamb made no mistake and scored on 78 mins to retake the lead at 9-8.

From the kick off Elks attacked again and Pavs were penalised, Elks kicked to touch and kept the ball tight in the forwards, Pavs were penalised again and Lamb stepped up to kick, this time the ball hit the post and bounced clear, Pavs launched a final attack which was halted by a high tackle from Mahoney for which he was yellow carded. Pavs could not create a chance from the penalty and full time was blown. Final Score 9-8.

Elks will be glad for the win but this was a game short on quality and littered with mistakes. Man of the Match was chosen by Pavs president Paul Stirland and he opted for Alex Ayres.

Next up for Elks is a trip to Spalding who sit at the bottom of the league without a win. Elks will need to improve quickly to mount a serious challenge for the top spots.