Tigers roar as Royston rocked

Ely Tigers 33 Royston 17

ELY faced an in-form Royston side who have won all of their league games this season in a friendly match - and came out on top.

Ely made several changes with Julian Thorn debuted at second row alongside Chris Day, whilst Lee Moden played on the flank, Lee Coulson moved to wing and Karim Faisali came into centre with Tim Mills going to full-back.

The Tigers started off facing a strong wind but made good progress, enjoying the majority of possession. Yet Royston opened the scoring after their centre ran through five sloppy tackles to score under the posts.

Royston scored again after an interception and 80-metre run. The conversion was added to give the visitors a 14-0 half-time lead.

The Tigers didn't panic and in the opening minutes of the second half, James Russell pulled one back, after a good chip and chase, and Ed Fahy converted from near the touchline.

James Denning added the next try, breaking from the loose after some good forward drives, but Royston added a penalty to give them a 17-12 lead with 20 minutes remaining.

Ely then began to play their best rugby of the game. Ricky Neale's rampaging run was stopped just short off the try-line and quick ball released the backs with Lee Coulson scoring and Fahy's conversion gave the home side a 19-17 lead.

Ely were now dominating and it wasn't long before they scored again. A good break by Thorn allowed the forwards to take the ball on before releasing quick ball for Fahy, who crashed over to score, before converting his own try.

After several rampaging runs by the Ely pack, the Royston full-back was spotted out of position. A clever kick was put through for Lee Coulson to gather for the final score, Fahy added his fourth conversion for a 33-17 win.

Neale narrowly pipped Russell for man of the match award.

# Ely's reserve team report and youth section round-up can be seen on our website.