Ely Tigers bounced back from their first defeat of the season with a hard-fought 30-10 victory over local rivals Newmarket on Saturday.
The Tigers, who went into the tie six places above their rivals, were first to get on scoreboard through the boot of Joel Scott Paul after he notched two penalties to take them up to six points.
The hosts were then awarded a penalty try after Scott Paul was tackled off the ball by Newmarket’s full-back.
The Tigers began the second half in the same style as the first and Scott Paul touched down early on after a Matt McCarthy offload.
Newmarket, to their credit, converted a number of penalties to keep themselves in the game before they found their first try of the afternoon after a sweeping move.
Ely then fought back and man-of-the-match Alex Milne dummied a pass and went himself, cutting through the defence and touching down under the posts.
The Tigers were reduced to 14 men for the number of infringements and Newmarket took advantage of their man advantage and threw the ball wide for an unconverted try in the corner.
But Ely rounded off their win and claimed a bonus point thanks to Luke Cornwell, who crashed down following a quick-tap penalty.
Ely host London Division Three league-toppers Stowmarket this Saturday (2.30pm).
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