Cruasders Get The Better Of Sluggish Tigers

A POOR first-half performance from the Ely Tigers cost them dear as they slipped to their first home defeat of the season against Crusaders.

Mark Mitzman's side were in good form coming into the match following last week's victory over Haverhill but they suffered from a distinct lack of defensive cohesion in the early stages of Saturday's game and were ultimately unable to recover as they lost 26-14.

Skipper Mitzman, said: "This was our first home defeat since the county cup last season and that hurts. We will come back from this match having learnt from our mistakes. It shows that this league is a move on from last season and we will have to work hard to make our mark."

Following a thunderous opening in which both sides found good opportunities to put pressure on their opponent, Crusaders seized control and registered the first try of the game after a quickly taken penalty.

After the restart the pattern of play settled down and for a period of around 10 minutes the Tigers coped well against a rigorously drilled Crusaders side.

Following a turnover in the loose however, the ball went wide to the Crusaders centre who stepped through some poor tackling to score unchallenged under the posts to make it 14-0.

Matters soon got worse for the Tigers as the home side added another try minutes shy of half-time to open up a 19 point cushion over the visitors.

After the break, the Tigers redoubled their efforts and were soon back in the match as Dan Coulson darted for the line to score under the posts.

Ely continued to push in the ensuing minutes and were rewarded for their efforts as Rhys Hurst crashed over the line.

Keen to maintain their lead, Crusaders got numbers behind the ball and proved a solid unit with the battling Tigers unable to breach their line again as the game petered out.