Elston moved back into promotion contention following a dominant 5-1 win over Rushcliffe FC at the weekend. The Clams started strongly and it was no surprise when James Scott headed home a Louis Cross corner after just five minutes. With Rui Thacker the focal point in attack, Elston created a series of further chances, but were unable to convert any of them.

The team nearly paid for its profligacy when a rare Rushcliffe attack ended in shot that rebounded off the post into the grateful arms of the Elston keeper, Brad Musgrove. Having slightly ridden their luck, Elston scored a second on the stroke of half-time. Another Louis Cross corner fell to Scott whose low shot beat the Rushcliffe keeper to make the half-time score 2-0 to the visitors.

Rushcliffe came out of the traps quickly in the second half, immediately winning a corner which was headed home to halve the deficit. The setback shocked Elston back into action, however, and good work down the left side by Will Veys created a chance for Rui Thacker who made no mistake from 18-yards to restore Elston’s two goal advantage.

Further chances came and went for Elston, but on 70 minutes Sam Lloyd struck the shot of the match from 20-yards into the top corner of the Rushcliffe net to make the score 4-1, and, 10 minutes later, James Scott got his hat-trick after another shot from the edge of the box that was too powerful for the Rushcliffe keeper.

As a result, Elston remain in third place in the league with five games of the season remaining. A series of matches in the coming weeks against other promotion-chasing teams will define Elston’s season, but having suffered three consecutive defeats, Saturday’s win means The Clams still have a chance of promotion from Division 3. It should be an exciting conclusion to the season!