They had the luxury of picking from a squad of 20, with experience coming into the pack from new addition, back rower Alan Mason and the return of Wes Upton to the front row. The backs had experience with Tama Keane and Dai Lewis set to dictate the play.
The first half was mainly a scrappy affair with The Elks struggling to get any momentum going and play was mainly played in the middle of the park. After 20 minutes Derby were the first to put points on the board when lost ball in their 22 let their fly half make ground before shipping the ball to their speedy winger who scored in the corner, the Derby centre did particularly well to convert. The Elks drew level with the last play on the half after a series of strong scrums, play was taken deep into the Derby 22, quick ball was fed to Danny King who smashed through from 10 yards out to score under the posts, Dai added the conversion.
Half time Derby 7 - 7 The Elks

The second half saw The Elks gain far greater control on the game with Mason , Upton and Angus Hulme controlling play in the forwards and Corrigan and Keane putting some good ball through the backs. The Elks needlessly went behind after securing a line out on their own 5 mtr line, they inexplicably lost the ball which Derby recycled to score with a rolling maul.
The introduction of Big Red added an extra dimension to the The Elks play and he was soon marauding through the Derby midfield making good ground to be held up just short of the line. A repeat of this play soon after, saw The Elks get a scrum deep into the Derby 22, a solid scrum, which was evident all afternoon, saw Soupy feed Tama who popped the ball to Big Red to tear through the Derby tackles to score, Dai missed the conversion.
As play entered the last 10 minutes The Elks were beginning to get the upper hand in all areas of play and after a great break from Mason supported by Soupy, the ball was fed to Angus who showed great strength to break through two tackles to score under the posts, Dai added the conversion.

The final minutes were played in the Derby half and The Elks looked to have sealed off the game as Tama fed CJ who finished clinically in the corner, only for the try to be ruled out for a forward pass. From the resulting scrum, The Elks drove the Derby pack back yet again, the referee then blew for full time.
A great team effort from all 22 players sealing victory against our closest rivals. Alan Mason was tremendous throughout the game supported by all the forwards, Soupy had a great game at 9, but MOM went to Wes Upton for a all round great display of solid scrummaging, great play in the loose and solid defence.
Let's take this platform into next week's league game v Melbourne 2's at the Stute.
Derby RUFC 3's 12 - 19 Ilkeston RUFC 3's

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