Ely Tigers faced Ipswich in a rearranged fixture aiming to move away from the bottom two positions in the league. Ely started strongly, pushing Ipswich back on their try line, with Matt French scoring the opening try for Ely, giving them an early lead. After the game settled, with 25 minutes on the clock, Tigers had the chance to increase their lead when the official awarded a penalty. Tigers opted to kick for points, and although Rhys Williams Goldman’s kick hit the crossbar and bounced back into play, Joel Scott Paul was quick to react and maintain pressure. Eventually, Lee Thompson crossed the line to score, with Williams Goldman adding the conversion. Williams Goldman also added a try to his tally by finding a gap in the Ipswich back line to score, with the conversion added, leading to a halftime score of 19-0 in favour of Tigers.
The second half saw a slow start from Ely as Ipswich applied pressure. However, despite this pressure, it was the Tigers who scored again by moving the ball across the pitch from a line-out on the right-hand side, eventually allowing John Surbey to score in the corner. Ely found themselves under pressure again during the half and were pinned back in their own half. With their penalty count rising, they were reduced to 14 men as Matt French received a yellow card from the official, and during this time, Ipswich scored a converted try. An injury to Lee Thompson required Ely to reshuffle, and they remained under pressure, unable to enter Ipswich’s half. A cross-field kick allowed Ipswich to score their second try of the game, making the score 24-12. As the game neared its end, Ipswich went down to 14 men after a red card, releasing some pressure. With 5 minutes remaining, Ely’s Matt French ended the game by touching the ball down after Ely pushed the Ipswich scrum back across their own try line, with Williams Goldman adding the conversion, resulting in a 31-12 win for Tigers.
Picture – Double try scorer Matt French
