A RAMPAGING first half performance from West Norfolk left Ely with just too much to do to recover as they suffered defeat in their first home game of the season on Saturday.

Rugby

Ely Tigers 19

West Norfolk 36

A RAMPAGING first half performance from West Norfolk left Ely with just too much to do to recover as they suffered defeat in their first home game of the season on Saturday.

Reeling from an early setback, the visitors ran home three unanswered tries to move into a commanding lead that Ely were ultimately unable to match despite a gallant second half fightback.

The loss leaves Karl Hayler’s men without a win from their first two matches of the season so far though confidence will remain high for the weekend’s trip to Norfolk-based Holt,

Keen to make an impression on their first home game of the season, a fired up Ely side began their attack straight from the outset.

A cumbersome West Norfolk side failed to respond as Ely’s aggressive approach kept them pinned inside their own half. The Tigers worked hard to take advantage of the visitors’ slow start but were forced to reorganise midway through the half when an injury to outside centre Ed Fahy brought Tom Jackson off the bench to fill in.

Despite being hurled straight into the breach, Jackson was immediately at the fore and after some good handling he managed to break free of a defender and make good ground before off-loading to Kev Houghton who went on to score under the posts.

The Tigers’ incisive play served only to rally West Norfolk however, and they quickly began to show the sort of form more typical of the higher league they contested in 2009/10.

The remainder of the first half was dominated by the visitors, who ran over three tries as the Tigers defence laboured to keep up.

The second half told a different tale, as a riled Ely side came back from the break looking to make up for their earlier mistakes with a sense of aggression and shape returning to their game.

Ely’s forwards began to work towards the visitors line once more and some more good interplay saw Ben Forteath go over to score early on. West Norfolk were not fazed by Ely’s attacking play though, and they immediately broke away to score once more.

Ely kept up the pressure and some quick hands in their own half saw Ben Forteath break and back himself to score a long range try under the posts. Ely maintained the upper hand for the rest of the half but were unfortunate not to convert more point scoring opportunities as Norfolk held on for the win.

Ely Standard Man of the Match: Ben Forteath