GALLERY: Tigers thrive in the snow

Ely Tigers Rugby V Thurston RFU (Image: Archant)

THE atrocious weather failed to dampen Ely’s day as they crushed lowly Thurston.

Freezing temperatures and persistent snowfall made conditions far from ideal for either side, but John Dibb’s Tigers stuck to their task with admirable gusto and ran over eight tries in a dominant display.

The win keeps them in the running for third place, with Newmarket just two points ahead, albeit with a game in hand.

Ely started strong, forcing the opposition back into their twenty two using solid forward runs. Fast hands from the backs saw the ball shipped to Charlie Coupland, who dived over in the corner for an unconverted try.

A few minutes later, Ely were back in opposition territory. An inside ball to man of the match Tim Evans, forced him through a gap and he was able to fend off multiple tackles to place down over the line. Sam Benzie kicked the two points.

Evans scored his second try a few minutes later, with a similar dominant run, casting aside a multitude of opposition players for another converted try. Sam Smith was next to get on the scoreboard, this time the hooker was sitting in the back line and excellent hands allowed him to crash over for an unconverted try.

Ely kicked off the second-half and a failed clearance kick from Thurston was caught by Kevin Houghton. The winger made short work of the opposition defence and dived over under the posts for a converted try. After the kick back, Thurston enjoyed a spell of possession and earned a penalty to get on the scoreboard.

Tigers captain John Dibb got his first points the day when a storming run broke the line and he scored in the corner. Before the game had ended, Mitchell Kennett was able to run over two tries, both involved him using his imposing stature to hurtle through the opposition defence.