ELY 3XV s run of five straight wins came to an end after they lost out 19-10 to Cambridge Exiles. A sluggish first-half cost Ely dear as Cambridge ran over three tries and opened a gap that ultimately proved too much for the Tigers to bridge. Captain Ben

ELY 3XV's run of five straight wins came to an end after they lost out 19-10 to Cambridge Exiles.

A sluggish first-half cost Ely dear as Cambridge ran over three tries and opened a gap that ultimately proved too much for the Tigers to bridge.

Captain Ben Brownlie, said: ""All in all it was a very well contested game and played in a good spirit under bad conditions.

"The outcome was eventually influenced by two very poor decisions from the official, but you win some, you lose some."

Cambridge started the game the brighter and exploited Ely's over commitment at the breakdown by bolstering their back line with forwards.

Though Ely's defence held well initially, the pressure in the home side's centre eventually wore the tacklers down and they went over for their first try to make it 5-0.

Ely had a good opportunity to level the scores straight after when Mark Egerton broke through the line, but he was brought down by a debatably high tackle, a view that wasn't shared by the referee.

Cambridge capitalised on Ely's sense of injustice and soon notched up their second try following a slick overlap, taking the score to 12-0.

Ely were not out of the match however, and they soon got themselves back into contention with a score of their own. Quick thinking from Matt Wilson afforded him the space to run over a score after a tap and go penalty.

Before long the home side had restored, and indeed extended, their lead to seven points as Ely once again overcommitted at the breakdown.

Just prior to half-time though, Ely came back and gave themselves a glimmer of hope for the second-half when Adrian Storey crashed over the line to pull it back to 19-10.

From the restart the Tigers dictated proceedings and had Cambridge pinned in their own 22 for large swathes of the half. Ely's attacking and pressure were only equalled by Cambridge's tackling which resulted in the ball being held up on the line on two occasions.

On a third occasion when Ely managed to get the ball over the line, they found themselves denied by the referee who judged it to be a double movement.

The decision deflated the Tigers and despite battling for the rest of the second-half they were unable to break through for vital points.