With only 14 players, Belper kindly supplied a winger and the game kicked off in windy but dry conditions.

The Elks had the wind advantage and soon took play into the hosts 22. Vic Pilbeam was supplying good ball for the backs and pressure turned into points when centre Joel Clay was sent in for the first try after 10 Mins, Jimmy Knowles struck an impressive touch line conversion to make it 7 - 0 to The Elks.

Ilkeston were dominant in taking the game to Belper and slick hands saw winger Dom Keetley intelligently kick through and win the race for the touchdown to make it 12 -0 to the Elks after 20 mins.

Belper responded with strong drives and used their strength in the forwards to drive over to score after 30 mins, to make the half time score 12 - 5 to the Elks.

The second half saw Ilkeston playing into a strong wind but they adapted well by keeping the ball in hand. A strong move including forwards and backs saw Cam Woodason break free to score and Jimmy Knowles converted another tricky kick to take the Elks into a 19-5 lead.

This led to Belper launching a strong, sustained assault on the Elks try line, but great defence led by young captain Luke Wilson kept the attacks at bay. After long pressure from the strong Belper pack they eventually got over the Elks try line to make the score 19 -10.

Ilkeston were running the ball at every opportunity and a move started in their own 22 saw the ball move through 10 different players to see Cam Woodason score the try of the season which drew applause from the all the crowd.

Belper again came back strongly and forced a try in the corner as play went into the last 5 mins.

The last couple of mins saw Belper throw everything at the The Elks, but superb defence all round with crunching tackles being made by Piers Connolly, Harry Towers and Ezza Ford kept the Elks try line intact. From a 5m scrum Russ Crampton kicked the ball dead to make the winning score Belper 17 - 26 The Elks.

So the curtain closes on the first season of the reformed Elks Colts set up. It has been on the whole, a huge success with players from both squads forming a real bond as one Colts Unit. Many thanks to the coaching support from Matt McGuire, Joel Haigh, Jake Smithurst with assistance from Lee Jones, Nick Pettit and Hugh Smith.

Four Colts have made 1st Team appearances, Josh Meakin, Jack Wilkinson, Joel Clay and Jay Heath.

Toby Keep and Luke Wilson were selected and played for the NLD U17 Squad.

The Colts Team Management would like to thank the support of Rich & Lee Jones, Sean Wright and Chris Smith in making the Ilkeston Colts a real success and platform for providing future talent for IRUFC.

We look forward to next season...Up The Elks !

Matt Broughton
U19 Team Manager