While other clubs in the London 2 Eastern Counties League, Ely Tigers welcome Wisbech in a re-arranged league fixture, the sides met on the back of wins the previous week, both sides fielding changed 15’s making changes to their squad during the morning of the game, with replacement Ricky Linton being forced to withdraw, and Jordon Barnes being brought in as a replacement.
Ely put the first points on the board, when on six minutes Jake Alsop put the ball over the bar from inside the twenty two meter line for three points following a penalty, the visitors first attack on eight minutes as they kicked towards the corner, for a line out, but the chance fell to nothing as Ely cleared the ball to the half way line, with twelve minutes on the clock, Alsop added a further three points from another penalty, a mirror image of the first, again he placed the ball thru the post to double the lead, a quick break from Wisbech as gaps appeared in the back line, but the home side stood firm as they cleared their lines from a scrum. On twenty three minutes the home side played the advantage to increase the lead, as Nathan Brooks broke free, finding Mark Assenti who feed the ball to captain, Matt McCarthy who crossed over the try line, Alsop added the conversion to give Ely a 13-0 lead. On twenty eight minutes Wisbech closed the gap, with a kick forward, the ball bounced kindly for the visitors as Tunikula picked up the ball and raced over the line unchallenged under the posts, the conversion, from close range, was missed, as the half time break approached, there was still time for Ely to increase the lead, firstly another penalty by Alsop, while Brooks added a try, with Alsop adding the conversion to give Tigers a 23-5 half time lead.
The restart saw Tigers on the attack once more, with Ely crossing the try line once more, but with the referee on the wrong side of play he was 100 per certain on the grounding of the ball and couldn’t award the try, it gave a Wisbech the chance to clear upfield, and from that kick Alsop picked up the ball and went forward, the ball finally found its way to Brooks who crossed for his second try of the afternoon, Alsop added the conversion to the scoreboard, Wisbech made sure that Ely knew that they were still in the game, with there second try of the afternoon, like the previous week, Ely kicked up a gear, with further tries from James Buckland, with Alsop adding the conversion and a further three for a penalty, John Dibb added a further try, but this time Alsop failed with the conversion, from the restart Ely went on the attack once more, with replacement Nathanael Musvaire going over as the scoreboard hit the fifty point mark, Alsop added the extra points.
Wisbech added their third try of the afternoon, to make the score 52-17, Alsop added another three points, as the Wisbech players lined up waiting for the kick, the word spread to go looking for another try, to get the bonus point, it wasn’t Wisbech however that score the next try, it was the home side that had the final word, despite the appeal from Wisbech of a knock on McCarthy played on to put the ball down beyond the try line to score, Alsop added the extra points, which signaled the end of the game with a 60-17 win.
The win pushes Ely into second place behind Holt, and level on twenty seven points with Newmarket.
On Saturday Ely travel to 4th placed Thurston, who sit just 1 point behind.
Press release from Ely Tigers Rugby Club
Photo credit: Steve Wells
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