Tigers excel against league’s bottom side

Rugby Swaffham 10 Ely Tigers 41

There were seven different try scorers as Ely ran riot against struggling Swaffham, on Saturday.

The Tigers were quick out of the blocks and ran over five tries in a blistering first half that ultimately secured them the points at a canter.

The result keeps Ely in second place in Eastern Counties Division 1, some nine points clear of Newmarket, with just four games left to play this season.

Against a lacklustre Swaffham side, Ely applied plenty of pressure early on and soon had the advantage of a scrum inside the opposition twenty-two. Mark Ryder went over for an unconverted try with his signature pick up at number 8.

Ely continued to dominate and, barely 10 minutes later, Lloyd Palmer made a break, drew the last defender and threw a reverse pass to David Bainsfair, who sprinted over for an unconverted try.

The Tigers continued to pin Swaffham back, John Dibb spotted an overlap and threw apass to Matt McCarthy who touched down and converted his own try.

Swaffham attempted to run the ball out from deep within their twenty-two but Alex Milne intercepted a poor pass and ran in under the posts, adding the conversion afterwards.

Ely allowed Swaffham back into the game with some sloppy missed tackles, which resulted in a unconverted try. But they were unfazed and quickly got back into the match, forcing the ball wide to Sam Benzie, who sprinted down the wing and touched down for an unconverted try.

After a busy scoring first half, Ely eased back in the second period. Swaffham came out fighting and, again, due to sloppy tackling, the Tigers conceded another try.

Soon afterwards, Ely were back down the other end and the ball found its way to Charlie Coupland who went over for a try.

Mitchell Kennett completed the scoring with a strong pick and drive from a ruck, carrying three men with him and touching down on the line.