The Tigers men secured a double victory on the road on the opening weekend of the season as both the First and Reserve teams came home from Hitchin with a win.

Having gone behind following the opening exchanges, the Tigers got a foothold in what was a tightly contested affair, scoring tries through George Murray, Jake Tilford and Elliott Holton to take an 18-6 lead into the break.

It was tougher going in the second half with the wind well and truly in our faces. But a second from Tilford and a moment of the match from Jack Saunders who allowed a line break from Ed Brown who in turn set up debutant Alfie Hawkhead to score under the posts.

The final 15 minutes were more stressful than they needed to be as the Crusaders mounted a comeback which the Tigers managed to keep at bay just long enough to see the full time whistle.

The result was the main thing after a preseason without a hit out which effectively meant we were finding our timings and combinations live for the first time against a side who have played twice already.

We take the positives and roll on towards our first home game of the season this Saturday at Goldington Road where we take on Eastern Rhinos.

Trys: Tilford x2, Holton, Murray, Hawkhead
Goals: J Brown 4/5
Man of the Match: Elliott Holton