Bruising win as Mansfield renew rivalry with Ilkeston

Mansfield beat Ilkeston 32-17 at Eakring Road in their first encounter in three seasons as the promise of a tough and bruising encounter was realised in a thoroughly entertaining contest on Saturday.
Mansfield RUFC v Ikeston.Mansfield RUFC v Ikeston.
Mansfield RUFC v Ikeston.

Only one point separated the two sides in their league positions as they went into battle and, although Mansfield pressed hard at the start, it was the Derbyshire outfit who struck first.

With just eight minutes played, a sublime shimmy through the middle by the opposition centre saw him burst through the middle to earn his side the opening try, which was converted.

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It appeared a case of ‘anything you can do’ as, just two minutes later, Ash Wills shimmied his way past his opposite number to outpace the final cover tackler and glide over in the corner for Mansfield’s first try.

Jonathan Williams then produced a quite outstanding touchline conversion to bring the scores level at seven-apiece.

As the first quarter drew to a close it was clear that Ilkeston’s dominant scrum, headed up by former Mansfield tighthead prop Tom Holland, was going to be problematic for the home side all afternoon.

Match day sponsor Hall-Fast’s Man of the Match No.8 Alan Symcox had to be at his absolute best to cope with the disruption that ensued in order to ensure any kind of workable ball for his scrum half Adam Shaw - together they didn’t disappoint.

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As the half-hour mark approached it was Symcox’s tackle that resulted in turnover ball in midfield and debutant winger Chima Odum appeared on his shoulder to slip the ball to Adam Shaw, who found Jonathan Williams and finally Russ Coleman to complete a delightful exchange that ended with a try and Williams’ conversion adding a further seven points.

With five minutes to go to half-time Williams added a 45m penalty kick to bring this side’s tally to 17 points.

However, Ilkeston are not a side to roll over and, although Mansfield’s forward pack through Liam Grant, Gareth Gripton and Ian Coleman matched them in the loose, their scrum continued to dominate.

The pressure this resulted in produced two penalties for the visitors during time added on and, although one sailed just wide, the first attempt earned three points for the Derbyshire team, bringing the half-time score to 17-10.

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Prop Danny Ellis was pressed into duty at hooker just prior to kick-off and acquitted himself superbly.

Two lineout catch and drives, which saw him find his man with accuracy deep in the Ilkeston half, resulted in Alan Symcox forcing his way over for the first of his brace of tries, bringing the score to 22-10 with just five minutes played of the second half.

The Blue & Whites continued to press home their territorial advantage as the game wore on and crunching tackles from Aiden McGregor began to take their toll.

As Mansfield did for much of last season, Ilkeston were struggling with injuries forcing players to play out of position and, although opportunities presented themselves, they were unable to take full advantage of them.

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A passage of sustained pressure by the home side saw the ball recycled several times with great work by Josh Hall and Andy Simms.

The ball ultimately found its way to wing Jordan Cleaver, who finished off the move, diving over in the corner for his side’s fourth and bonus point try.

The scoreboard read 27-10 to the home side as we entered the final quarter.

With almost half an hour of play gone, ex-Rugby League convert Chima Odum, who was determined to make his mark, broke through two tackles to set up a series of rucks close to the opposition line.

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Alan Symcox collected the ball and drove over from close quarters to claim his second try and at 32-10 the home side had an unassailable lead.

The final minutes belonged to Ilkeston in many ways as a clumsy tackle by Danny Ellis earned him a yellow card, which was the only blot on an excellent afternoon’s work for him and Mansfield were down to 14 men.

The visitors’ strong running centre ended the game as he started, with a lovely break through the middle from a wayward kick out of defence to slip the ball outside, resulting in a try under the posts.

This made the final score 32-17 and Mansfield had taken the full five points on offer for the second game running.

That saw Mansfield move up two places in the league and one ahead of their opposition this weekend, Kettering.

Kick-off is 2.15pm and you can follow the action on Twitter, just go to @MansfieldRugby.

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