Ely Tigers continue to struggle as they suffer another heavy defeat at the weekend.

Away at tenth-placed Colchester IIs, Ely Tigers were keen to end their losing streak.

However, injuries and player availability issues once again proved to be their downfall.

Ely now find themselves second from bottom in the league.

The match began on an even footing, but it was the home team who broke the deadlock 10 minutes in, scoring an opening try and conversion.

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Within five minutes, Colchester doubled their lead with a second try to the right of the posts.

Their third try came soon after, following a line-out, as they broke down the wing to score in the corner.

Colchester secured a bonus point try on 25 minutes, exploiting a large gap in Ely's defence to score under the posts.

At the half-hour mark, Ely managed to get on the scoreboard with a penalty, kicked for three points by Rhys Williams Goldman.

However, Colchester quickly responded with another converted try.

As the second half began, Colchester continued to dominate, adding another converted try at 48 minutes.

By 54 minutes, they had crossed the try line again, although they missed the conversion.

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With the score at 40-3 and 60 minutes on the clock, Ely managed a try of their own during their best passage of play, with Jordan Barnes crossing the line.

However, they failed to maintain this momentum, and Colchester quickly responded with another try, though they missed the conversion.

As the game neared its conclusion, there was time for one more try from Colchester.

A punt forward looked to be going out of play, but the ball bounced unfavourably for Ely in their own goal area and was not cleared, allowing Colchester to score.

The missed conversion ended the game.