Ely Tigers got back to winning ways following last week’s defeat at Woodbridge, but again the side was forced into changes due to injury.
The game started badly for the visitors, being forced into a change inside five minutes due to injury, and it was Ely that opening the scoring, after winning the ball at a scrum, the home side quickly moved the ball out to the wing and to Charlie Coupland, who found a gap on the wing to cross the try line, with Joel Scott Paul missing from the starting line up due to injury, up stepped Jake Alsop who added the conversion, Coupland turned scorer to provider for the next try, intercepting a pass on the half way line, Coupland raced forward, with Matty Balmer in support, and with ideal timing Coupland set Balmer free to score, again Alsop added the extra points, the game then settled down with neither side able to get a grip and keep hold of the ball for a period of time, and on 36 minutes, Wisbech got on to the scoreboard, as the visitors moved the ball from left to right, and having players in the overlapped they crossed the line to score in the corner, the conversion was missed as Tigers went into the break 14-5 ahead.
The second started very much with Wisbech on the front foot, and it was the visitors that added to the score board, being awarded a penalty they decided to go for the points right in front of the post, with 10 minutes left on the clock the home side brought on Nathan Brooks and John Dibb, to join other replacement Byron Read, all three played a huge parts in the next two tries, the first coming with Ely’s first real play in the Wisbech half, from a line out, a scrum was awarded, with Ely wining the ball, with Read peeling off the back of the scrum to go over the try line in the corner, leaving a hard kick for Alsop, but like the others during the game the ball sailed over for the extra points, moments after the restart the two replacements combined to cross over, Mitchell Kennett’s powerful run saw the ball fed out to Dibb, with Brooks in support, Dibb fed the ball and Brooks powered over the line under the posts, for Alsop’s easiest kick of the afternoon, with the game falling to a close, Wisbech were camped out around the home side try line, but the defence stood firm until the final whistle.
The win still leaves Tigers in third place, behind West Norfolk, (1st) and Cantabs (2nd), with both sides due to face Tigers in the coming weeks. Final score, Ely Tigers 28 – 8 Wisbech.
Match report and photographs Steve Wells
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