The Elks were pleased to accommodate a few of our cousins from Inverell who had a bye round in Central North, they slotted in perfectly and enjoyed the run. The arrival of youngsters Simon Haron and Lewis Crothers was also warmly received and these two TAS boys demonstrated they were more than up to the standard being played.

Tonkin’s kick off was right on target and the Elks were dominant from the start, spending the first several minutes in the Armidale half. A tight head was secured by Handlebars Hollingworth putting Captain Baker’s concerns at ease, the Elks were however needing to convert this possession and territory into points.

Tonkin took the line on and found star player Stuart ‘Hallys Mate’ McClintock on his inside. As was the case all day, whenever McClintock had the ball the air was filled with screams of support as he ignited the side with the ball in hand. He managed to burst through a half gap, was able to offload to the ever supportive Matt Webster who had one to beat and the line in sight. He crashed over the line but had to squirm like a fish out of water to eventually force the ball for a fine Elks try, 5 nil to the Elks. The conversion attempt from in front of the posts by Steve Inverell went astray, but the Elks were playing like men possessed.

The Armidale side applied a lot of pressure immediately afterwards only to be thwarted by some solid defence by the likes of Webster, Ben Newbury and Tristan Walmsley. The Armidale side was beginning to get rattled as they couldn’t get through.

A misunderstanding of defensive patterns from fullback (Elks were missing regular fullbacks Whitehead - injury, and Lockwood - boots hidden by girlfriend), saw Armidale stroll through a gaping hole to score and take the lead with a converted try, 7 to 5.

Once again Captain Baker used his golden tonsils to compose his charges while behind the posts, some astute kicking from Tonkin leading them back into the Armidale half. Solid efforts from Ben Sharp and Lewis Crothers in the tight helped the team, with Crothers proving to be a lineout specialist he created headaches for Armidale in the set piece.

Continued applied pressure resulted in a penalty for the Elks, with Baker wisely opting for the shot at goal. Following the earlier easy miss, Baker searched for a kicker - Salmon was off injured thank goodness, and Hall won’t play until rucking is allowed again, Baker thought of having a shot himself but sanity prevailed as he tossed the ball to star player Stuart ‘Hallys Mate’ McClintock. The crowd screamed again but he didn’t even blush as he promptly set the ball up and booted it cleanly through the posts to put the Elks in the lead 8 to 7.

The score remained that way through to the half time break and for most of the second half, with less than 10 minutes to go it seemed the Elks were set to win the game. Unfortunately for the home side, a quick throw in after an exciting breakthrough by the Armidale winger resulted in a soft try and the lead for the visitors of 14 to 8.

The Elks threw everything at them till the final whistle and were deservedly cheered from the ground, from all witnesses an exciting match.

Highlights were Websters early try, the bustling runs of Sam Ritchie, the astute hands of Tonkin picking a few up off his toes, not to forget the fearless Walmsley under the high ball. Points went to McClintock, Tonkin and Handlebars Hollingworth and their selections were justified by their victory in the boat race that is customary after rugby matches.

Baker addressed the aftermatch function in fine apparel, he had a concern that wearing a tie may affect his quality “radio voice”. The Elks manage to get a bonus point as the loss was less than seven points, which could be crucial as the competition moves towards the finals.

The competition has a week off this week in conjunction with university holidays, however the Elks will still be training on Wednesday nights from 6pm.