RUGBY UNION: Determined Stowmarket side hold Ely Tigers to draw
Jacob Muncey breaks free to score in Ely Tigers' 22-22 draw with Stowmarket. Photo: Steve Wells - Credit: Archant
An inspired Stowmarket comeback saw Ely Tigers held to their first draw of the season last weekend.
Paul Dewey looks to break free. Photo: Steve Wells - Credit: Archant
The Suffolk side stormed back from a 17-0 half-time deficit to draw 22-22 at Downham Road; a result the Tigers will be disappointed with given the way they dominated the game in the first half.
Man-of-the-match and debutant Jacob Muncey opened the scoring for Ely, finding space down the blindside and sprinting home for a converted try, before Joel Scott Paul added his name to the scoreboard after Mitchell Kennett impressively dummied a defender and offloaded.
Scott Paul added a penalty to give Ely a 17-0 lead at the break and they continued to dominate after the restart, with John Dibb diving over for a converted try.
But disaster soon struck for the Tigers, with a number of players going off injured – and Stowmarket took full advantage.
Joel Scott Paul scores for the Tigers. Photo: Steve Wells - Credit: Archant
The visitors ran in four unanswered tries of half an hour to level the scores – and nearly snatched the victory in the dying seconds but saw a kick drift wide of the posts.
Ely, who are fifth in London Leagues Eastern Counties Division, will hope to get back to winning ways on Friday (10) when they travel to West Norfolk.
John Dibb feels the force of a Stowmarket tackle. Photo: Steve Wells - Credit: Archant
