Match report Newmarket 14 - 7 Ely

On a chilly Sunday morning the slope and the weather made this match the clichéd ‘game of two halves’. Kicking off up hill and into the wind Newmarket made a good start, immediately recovering the ball before driving Ely into touch on their 20 metre line. Though winning the ball from the throw, they then lost possession and an untidy series of rucks and mauls set the tone for the rest of the half. The forwards on each side proved to be evenly matched but, with few opportunities for Newmarket behind the scrum, Ely’s slicker handling along their back line helped give them a distinct territorial advantage. 5 minutes into the game a driving maul by the Newmarket forwards ended with a knock on 15 metres from their line. From the resulting scrum Ely went down the blindside and narrowly avoided stepping over the whitewash to touch down in the right-hand corner.

Following the successful conversion both sides tried to bring some pace to the game, with a couple of good runs from Iain Moffat for Newmarket, and Ely, more often than not, opting for short tap penalties. However, in difficult handling conditions the moves frequently resulted in minor infringements and the half ended with no further scores.

From the second half drop out Newmarket made clear their intention to make use of the slope. The ball was gathered by Christopher Le on his own 20 metre line and his jinking run carved through the Ely defence and left his own support players trailing in his wake. He was unfortunate to knock the ball forward as Ely mounted a last-ditch defence 5 metres from their own line. However, in the ensuing series of scrums the Newmarket forwards took control and drove over for scrum-half, Anton Philips, to claim the try.

After the re-start Newmarket benefited from a series of penalties and a second powerful run from Daniel Bristow seemed destined to result in another score until he was very well held up by the Ely forwards. From the resulting set-piece man of the match Philips spotted a gap in the defence and dashed over for his second try. Both Newmarket tries were converted by Oliver Green.

In the last play of the game, looking for one last score, Newmarket opted for a long kick back and chase from the drop out but speedster and fullback Lewis Heap was unable to beat the Ely defence to the ball as they ran out to close the game.