Lakenham and Hewitt 17 Ely Tigers 37 FACING tougher opposition than in recent weeks, Ely were determined to start the game well and immediately put Lakenham and Hewitt under pressure in their 22-metre area. Here, a charged-down kick by Tom Jackson allow

Lakenham and Hewitt 17

Ely Tigers 37

FACING tougher opposition than in recent weeks, Ely were determined to start the game well and immediately put Lakenham and Hewitt under pressure in their 22-metre area.

Here, a charged-down kick by Tom Jackson allowed winger Lee Coulson scoop the ball off the floor, beat two defenders and score in the corner.

Then, quickly-recycled ball enabled Stacy Mould to charge over in the opposite corner for a 10-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes.

The next 20 minutes was end-to-end rugby but it was Lakenham who scored the next two tries after some confusion in the Ely defence. The forwards recovered the ball and after a series of pick-and-drives, quick ball was fed to fly-half Gavin Ross, who broke the defence line before passing to Tom Jackson to outpace the covering defence and score under the posts. Gavin Ross converted for a 17-10 half-time lead.

The second-half began well, a good break from scrum-half Dan Coulson started a forwards drive before releasing the backs. Winger Lee Coulson stepped and weaved past two defenders and score in the corner for his second try of the game.

The Tigers forwards collected the ball from the kick-off and forced their way into the opposition 22-metre area where Lakenham conceded a penalty.

It was quickly taken by Lee Kupyn and passed to the rampaging Ricky Neale to score. Ross converted for a 29-10 lead.

Then against the run of play, Lakenham broke free to score under the posts to make the score 29-17. Keen to makes amends, Ely put relentless pressure onto Lakenham who were penalised, and Ross kicked the penalty.

A now confident Ely were playing some great rugby and finally Karim Faisali spun the ball wide for Jackson to score his second try. Dan Coulson narrowly beat his brother Lee to man of the match.

Ely Tigers II 35

Cambridge IV 0

ELY II entertained Cambridge IV for a Greene King Merit Table match on Saturday.

A ruck formed and when the ball came out to Ely, Dean Brimfield sidestepped and drove over the line. The Tigers were 5-0 up with only a couple of minutes elapsed.

A well-played period led to an Ely penalty in an attacking position. It was taken quickly for Richard Nelson to score the try. Matt Daybell added the conversion to extend the lead to 12-0.

Cambridge had excellent defence and now began to take on Ely in the forwards. However, it was the Tigers who added a penalty, kicked by Daybell, for a 15-0 lead at half-time.

More fluidity was soon apparent from the Tigers and the scrum, back to form, won a ball against the head for Gareth Mills, popping into the back-line from full-back, to use pace and strength to score in the corner. After long period of Ely pressure on the Cambridge line, Nelson scored his second try, this time from a five-metre scrum, for a 25-0 scoreline.

Another burst of activity came from Ely with a major handling movement from which Mark Egerton was given the half gap to exploit, which he did well enough to score the Tigers' fifth try in the corner.

With the game drawing to an end, Kieran Kennett put in a special solo scoring effort to make the final score 35-0.

Ely Tigers III 15 Sawston II 10

ELY III were at home to entertain Sawston II and were in the unusual situation of having a glut of players.

The first score came when the Tigers' flying colt wing, Jimmy Gillburn, showed some elusive running to cross Sawston's line and touch-down under the posts.

Sawston, not to be outdone, put Ely's line under pressure and crashed over from five yards to bring the scores level. The game continued in the same vein, until Ely forced a penalty close to the Sawston line, which was taken quickly and the Tigers skipper, Dave Pople, sneaked in for their second try. Ely added a third before half-time, courtesy of some elusive running by Tom Ashman.

The second half started with much of the same until a clash of Ely heads and the departure of Ben Brownie. With the reshuffle not quite sorted, the wise old Sawton midfield took advantage and eventually put their winger in the corner for their second try.

Ely Tiger-15s 12

Wymondham Under-15s 34

TIM Evans and Rory Martin scored the tries for Ely in this match, but Wymondham were comfortable winners.

Pete Willie kicked a conversion.

Man of the match went to Dan Marsh.