Results and Reports 18th November 2007
St Ives under-17s 5 points, Ely 24
On a morning made bitterly cold by a strong easterly wind, St Ives were brought down to earth with a bump after the previous weeks exploits. Ely won the toss and chose to play with the elements in the first half, but took a while to come to terms with both the wind and determined St Ives play.
Five minutes into the match St Ives trademark rucking and quick release ended with Dan Bainbridge in space on the right wing. He sprinted for a try in the corner.
There followed a period of play where St Ives played well with ball in hand against the wind, but were kept at bay by strong Ely defence and long touch kicks back into the St Ives half. After soaking up pressure, the Ely forwards began to enjoy more success and gave their backs a chance. Twenty minutes gone, and good aggressive running by the Ely inside centre resulted in a converted try.
This seemed to dispirit St Ives and from the kick off poor options behind the scrum, accompanied by woeful tackling on the gain line allowed the Ely centre to score another try almost immediately.
St Ives forwards, in particular captain Dan Hyde, fought back, but whereas in previous matches the backs had made full use of the ball gained, in this match they appeared sometimes clueless and wasted much possession. The resurgence was killed off when Ely played with great continuity, albeit aided again by shocking defence at the tackle line by St Ives. The move ended finally with one of the number 8s completing a fine try, which was converted.
On the stroke of half time pressure once again built on the St Ives line after missed tackles and Ely man-of-the match number 7 Daniel darted over to score.
With the score at half time 5-24, St Ives turned with high hopes of getting back in to the match. Ely did run the ball on many occasions, but good backs defence in the second half, especially by St Ives man-of-the-match James Wood kept them at their own end of the field. However, whilst the entire second period was played there, time and again, poor options let St Ives down. Even when breaks were made, the final pass to supporting runners was not forthcoming.
The gloss was taken off a fine Ely performance when their number 7 stayed down after a heavy tackle requiring medical attention. Finally leaving (as a precaution) in an ambulance in good humour, it is hoped that nothing serious ensues and that he soon returns to the fray.