Ely Tigers roar back and snatch victory against Ipswich Y.M.

Ely Tigers moved to second place in the Greene King IPA Eastern Counties League 1 after leaving it late to overcome Ipswich Y.M. on Saturday.

Ely‘s line-up was missing a few key players from last week’s thrashing of Newmarket and it showed in what proved to be a tough first half for the Tigers.

Scott Macfarlane, who turned in a man of the match performance, was able score a brace in the first half, both followed by conversions by Matt McCarthy.

Despite their positive start, Ely‘s defence struggled with the opposition’s counter attack play, and Ipswich Y.M. scored three converted tries in the first half, putting the Tigers down 21-14 before the break.

After half time, Ipswich continued their dominance and surged into a 31-14 lead. A tip tackle on the Tigers’ captain Luke Cornwell forced the referee to award a yellow card to the opposition, giving Ely a route back into the match.

Ely rallied, and an impressive display of forward interplay allowed Nathan Brookes to pick and drive over the line for a converted try. Brookes then notched his second when Ed Fahy broke from a maul and caught the offload when Fahy was brought down at the five metre line.

In the dying minutes of the game Ely gained a penalty in the opposition twenty-two and Scott Macfarlane was there again to finish off a set piece move from the penalty. McCarthy‘s boot was good and brought the final score to 35-31, securing the Tigers’ second win in as many matches.

Ely’s next fixture is at home against Crusaders on Saturday 10th October.