ILKESTON'S first half blitz saw them beat Midlands One East local rivals Mansfield 32-5.
Mansfield kicked off up hill and were soon having to defend, Chris Tipton worked hard to turn the ball over and the backs attacked on the right.
Good hands put Jacob Heath in space and he sprinted clear to score in the corner. The conversion was missed to make it 5-0 after eight minutes.
It was all Elks in the early exchanges and they attacked down the right again. Tom Pottinger made a 20 metre break and fed Heath, who sped in for his second try after 13 minutes, extras missed but it was still 10-0.
From a Mansfield penalty Elks kicked to the corner, the line out was caught and driven but Mansfield were penalised again, this time the blind side flanker was sin binned.
Ilkeston opted to scrum and were driving towards the line, the drive was stopped illegally and a penalty try awarded. Jono Falls added the extras to make it 17-0 after just 21 minutes.
The next ten minutes were sloppy as both sides made basic errors around halfway with neither side taking advantage.
The hosts were soon back on the attack through the forwards and camped on the Mansfield line.
Several forward drives led to Matt McGuire squeezing over for the bonus point try after 36 minutes as the lead was stretched to 22-0.
Mansfield refused to give in and launched a series of their own attacks.
They had a line out in the corner and moved the ball left, good handling found space on the right and they scored a minute before the break through Ollie Stanford to make it 22-5.
Elks still had one last attack before half-time and broke well down the left through Jack Partington. The ball was recycled and Tipton carried the move on, he timed his pass perfectly to Heath who completed his hat-trick on the stoke of half-time.
The second half continued to be controlled by Ilkeston, but Mansfield stepped up their game and with the slope advantage forced Elks into mistakes and knock-ons.
Ilkeston finally had a decent attack through a five metre scrum. It was driven forward and Simon Bennett got the vital touchdown on 53 minutes, extras missed making it 32-5.
A combination of improved play from Mansfield and Elks taking their foot of the gas made the final 25 minutes error strewn with neither side carving out any real scoring chances.
The only real incident was a yellow card for Ilkeston's Richard Hutchinson on 78 minutes, although no further scoring followed.
Elks will welcome the bonus point win but the start promised so much more which never really materialised, Tipton and McGuire played well up front but the man of the match goes to Jacob Heath who apart from his hat-trick looked a threat every time he had the ball.
Mansfield will look to bounce back at Syston this weekend.
