Changes to the squad may have disjointed Ely Tigers as they fell to a narrow defeat to neighbours Newmarket in the London 3 Eastern Counties League.
The visitors applied pressure early on as Ely were pinned in their ow half.
But after Paul Dewey missed in the corner, Newmarket attacked and found a gap in the Tigers defence to land the opening try.
Ed Fahy thought he’d levelled for Ely, but play was brought back for a forward pass, before Jake Alsop scored a penalty kick to make it 5-3 to Newmarket at half-time.
Amid a second-half Newmarket attack, Ely were down to 14 men as Ryan Edgeworth was shown a yellow card, and it was during this time when Tigers were breached once more.
Two tried followed by two conversions gave Newmarket a 19-3 lead, which clicked Ely into gear.
Matt McCarthy crossed to score with Alsop adding the extra points, and as Ely pressed, Dewey made amends to finish off a try to make it 19-13.
But errors led to a loss of possession for the hosts, which Newmarket took advantage of to hold onto the victory at Cambridge Commodities Park.
The win lifts Newmarket into third spot, a place and a point above Ely who travel to Ipswich YM on Saturday, 3pm.
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