Momentum was on the side of Ely Tigers as they went into the Festive Break, and it was hoped that the four week lay off over the Christmas break didn’t hinder their promotion challenge.
The side travelled to Fakenham, a side they’d already beaten heavily back in October, the game started brightly for Tigers, pinning the home side back in their own 22, but it was the home side that made the first breakthrough, Tigers having been penalised gave the home side the chance to put the ball into the corner, winning the resulting line out, Fakenham went over in the corner to score the opening try from Luke Boynes, with Murry Tindal adding the conversion.
Both sides looked to be suffering from rustiness, with knock on’s and forward passing seeing the game stop-start, on 30 minutes captain Matt McCarthy crossed over the try line for Tigers, despite some solid defence from the home side, Jake Alsop added the conversion to level the scores, from the restart, the lead was increased as Grant Storey broke forward, with the try line in sight, Storey was brought to ground, but Tigers carried on pushing forward with the ball once more in Storey’s hands as he went over to score, Alsop was unable to convert the extra points, with Half time looming, the Tigers lead increased further, this time it was Alfie Ramswell who crossed over the line after a break from Matthew French, French timing the pass at the right time to enable Ramswell to score, again Alsop was unable to add the extra points.
The second half started in similar pattern to the first, Ely on the attack, while the home side looked likely to score, Ely soon however got back in their stride, as they looked for that all important bonus point try, some quick hands moved the ball quickly, with Luke Turner feeding Alsop who crossed over to dab the ball down to the right of the post, Alsop was able to add the conversion as the scoreboard read, 24-7.
Fakenham started to fight back, with the home side adding pressure on the Tigers defensive line, during this play, French was shown a yellow card, and the home side took advantage of it as a outside pass to winger Jamie Tuck for his first senior try, Tindal was again added the extra points, with a man down, Ely needed to work hard, however it was Tigers that scored the next try, Alsop turned provider a small dab forward through a gap in the defence saw some neat foot work also from second half replacement Nathan Brooks, saw the ball cross the try line before Brookes dived onto the ball to score the try, Alsop added the extra points.
There was still time for another Tigers try, some quick neat passing from Ryan Clark, Alsop and Turner set up Lory Martin who went over to score, Alsop was unable to add the extra points, as the game came to a close it was the home side that had the last word as Ashley Stewart scored the last try of the afternoon, the conversion was unsuccessful as the final score finished with a 36-19 Tigers win.
Tigers Line Up, Stacy Mould, Grant Storey, Ricky Neale, Mitch Kennett, Tom Green, Matt French, George Newman, Adam Tallack, Ryan Clark, Alfie Ramswell, Matt McCarthy, Charlie Coupland, Paul Dewey, Jake Alsop – Replacements, Nathan Brooks, Jim Storey, Luke Turner
Press release from Ely Tigers Rugby Club
Photo credit: Steve Wells
You must be logged in to post a comment.