Ely Tigers fell to a 45-20 defeat at Bury St Edmunds seconds, with a much changed squad of 18 due to injury, player unavailability and Covid cases.
The home side struck first, winning a lineout and moving the ball right to left to find their winger, whose try was converted.
Tigers were forced into an early change, but drew level soon after when a kick forward by Jake Alsop bounced kindly for Aaron Borland, who picked up the loose ball to glide under the posts unchallenged, with Alsop converting to level.
Bury regained the lead with a carbon-copy of the first try, again moving the ball out to the winger for his second try, but they were reduced to 14 men and Alsop slotted a penalty from in front of the posts to make it 14-10.
Despite being a man down Bury increased their score, as missed tackles and space out wide proved Ely's downfall, with a third try, but an error from the restart saw the pace of Borland prove too much for the hosts as he went under the posts, giving Alsop the chance to convert and make it 19-17.
Ely had the chance to nudge ahead with another penalty, further out and at an angle, but Alsop's kick stayed low and went right.
A perfectly placed kick forward by Alsop set up Ely’s next attack, with the lineout placing Bury on their own try line, but Tigers were unable to win the ball and the home side cleared their lines.
The headwind meant the ball didn’t travel far and Ely came back before conceding a penalty, with the referee talking to both captains after some pushing and shoving as the half came to a close.
The second half saw Bury take control and they added another try from a scrum deep in their own half as the ball broke out and two passes later the hosts had run the length of the pitch to score, with the conversion added.
A penalty for a tip tackle gave Alsop a chance to reduce the deficit, making it 26-20, but two quick tries took the game away from Ely.
The first came in the corner from a Bury scrum, with the conversion missed, and the second after tackles were missed, with this try converted to make it 38-20.
Ely were reduced to 14 men late on and a mistake led to the final score as a kick forward bounced unkindly and just out of reach of their defence, falling nicely into the hands of a Bury player to touch down, with the conversion completing the scoring.
Defeat leaves Ely in seventh place ahead of a trip to ninth-placed Diss this weekend.
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