HULL Ionians' teamwork brought them a bonus-point try and a 30-23 victory in the dying minutes after Sheffield Tigers seemed to have snatched a draw five minutes earlier.

Adam Thomas was once again the hero of the hour as he broke from a scrum on the 22, with replacement Sam Bowring racing up in support to take the scoring pass having only just come on to the pitch.

Both teams continued their record of playing good, entertaining rugby, keeping the ball moving in a tight contest, and also defended solidly.

Ionians had the edge and had they taken all their scoring chances would have won comfortably.

Joe Makin and Ross Noonan were the pick of the forwards with Dave Marshall and Adam Thomas outstanding in the backs.

Ionians applied pressure straight from the kick-off at Brantingham Park, forcing a penalty after Dave Marshall and Sam Wilson kicked and chased.

The forwards drove on from the attacking line-out and Danny Hague peeled off and dived over, being denied a second later, after being judged to have made a double movement.

Tigers came back with good recycled possession and desperate attempts to get at the ball created penalties with Johnny West soon adding a goal.

Ionians took play to the line then lost the ball and the counter-attack and once again conceded a penalty to West, adding a third on 35 minutes.

To close the half, Adam Thomas broke from a scrum on half way with Joe Sanders taking play on, then quick ball released Oli Marns to the corner to retake the lead.

Ionians had the wind advantage after the break and set a fast pace and a break by Glenn Boyd soon created a penalty for Marshall.

Four minutes later, they were back at the goal line through forward power and Adam Thomas dived over the top to score, Marshall converting.

Tigers finally released Jamie Broadley to break tackles and run under the posts, West converting.

Ionians reasserted control and gained another penalty to Marshall.

The Tigers now took a turn at ball retention and released Peter Swatkins to the posts, West converting to level the scores.

Ionians finally forced an error to gain an attacking scrum from which Thomas sent Sam Bowring under the posts to win the match, Marshall adding the goal.