Ely Tigers made their longest away journey of the season when then travelled to Southwold last Saturday.
Forced into changes due to player availability meaning some players would be playing off position, the game saw a league debut for Aaron Borland, and the return to the pack for Eli Williamson.
The game didn’t start well for the Tigers as they were forced into a early change as Tom Elliott was forced off due to injury, both sides failed to get an early grip to the game, with the home side trying to take advantage of the strong cross field win, but it was Ely that posted the first points on the board, moving the ball across field from left to right finding Borland out on the wing where his pace was too much for the home side touching down in the corner, kicker Matt McCarthy was unable to add the conversion as the wind held the ball up, McCarthy was soon to have a further chance to extend the lead with a penalty but again the kick was missed, the home side then had a penalty of their own to reduce the score line, with the wind in their favor the ball went through the posts.
From another kick forward, with Southwold looking to add pressure on the Ely backline, Ely went on the attack, the ball dropping kindly to Paul Dewey who moved forward across the pitch until releasing Borland once more to add his second try on the afternoon under the posts, with the conversion added, Ely looked to be in control of the game, soon after McCarthy added a try to his points tally, again going cross the line near the posts, with the added conversion, the home sides afternoon then got harder for10 minutes as they went down to 14 men, but it was the home side that posted the next points with a penalty kick, with half time approaching it was Ely turn to be reduced in numbers with John Dibb being shown a yellow card.
With Ely starting the second half a man down it was the home side that tried to make it count as they camped out in the Ely half looking for in gaps in the Ely defense, but they stood firm, it was Ely with the next chance to increase their lead with another penalty, instead pushing on looking for the bonus point try, they decided to kick for the points, but the kick fell short allowing Southwold to pick the ball up and look to clear their lines, an even second half saw play ebb and flow from side to side, and the home side eventually finding the gap to score their opening try of the afternoon, the conversion was missed, but the score seemed to add some extra belief into Southwold, but from the restart Ely were awarded a further penalty, with McCarthy added the points, with the game heading towards the final stages the game came to alive, with Southwold adding another try and a conversion, Southwold need to push forward from the restart as the could sense a victory, however they gave away another penalty giving Ely the chance to open the gap up once more, McCarthy made no mistake with this kick using the wind just perfectly as the ball went through the post as the referee signaled the end of the game as Ely run out 25-18 winners.
Speaking after the game, Captain Lory Martin said “Southwold is a tough place to go and play, but everybody stepped up and it was a strong performance from the entire squad which deserved the win. Excellent defence was shown against a big pack, and our backs were superb considering we had some newer players and players out of position. A great platform to build on for next week’s game against West Norfolk”
Press release from Ely Tigers Rugby Club
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