Tigers close off the season with defeat at Diss

 🚐 @rugby__tog On Tour

🏆 Counties 1 Eastern Counties

📆 5^th April 2025

🆚 Diss

Ely Tigers concluded the 2024/25 season with a visit to Diss, who had already been relegated. A victory would have secured Ely a place in the top half of the league table, this was game 162 of watching the Senior team, and game 38 of the season, and I'm still not done !! 

It was the home team that opened the scoring with a converted try within four minutes, leading 7-0.

After twenty minutes, Ely still struggled to find their footing, seemingly still on the bus as the game was plagued with errors. Despite these challenges, a breakthrough from Ely saw the ball moved from right to left, allowing Jordan Barnes to score, though the conversion was missed.

Missed tackles continued to be costly for Ely. Following the restart, Diss managed to slip through and score another converted try under the posts, extending their lead. Diss further increased their advantage to 17-5 with a successful penalty kick from halfway. As halftime approached, Ely won a penalty and opted to kick for points directly in front of the posts, but unfortunately, the kick went wide.

The second half began with Ely showing more brightness. They quickly took a line out deep in the Diss half, leading to John Surbey scoring in the corner. However, the kick was missed, leaving the score at 17-10. Diss had an opportunity to increase their lead with a penalty but the ball drifted wide. Diss received a yellow card, reducing them to 14 players. Ely was awarded another penalty and opted to kick, successfully gaining 3 points as the ball hit the upright and dropped over the bar, narrowing the lead by 4 points.

John Surbey

A break from Ely saw Adam Tallack pass wide to Surbey who scored his second try of the afternoon, bringing Tigers to an 18-17 lead. With the game heading into the final minutes, Ely needed to maintain possession and manage the closing moments. However, an error led to Diss scoring, along with a successful conversion. The official signalled the end of the season, resulting in a 24-18 defeat for Tigers. 

Tigers finished the season on 51 points in 8^th place, with plenty of work to be done before pre season restarts in July,