Ealing Trailfinders vs Coventry

Match Report

Ealing Trailfinders produced their best performance of the season so far to inflict a heavy 60-25 defeat on Coventry at Trailfinders Sports Club.

Ben Ward’s men scored nine tries in total as they registered their seventh consecutive victory to stay top of the Greene King IPA Championship table.

Pat Howard crossed for a double whilst Alun Walker, Segundo Tuculet, Rayn Smid, James Cordy Redden, Peter Lydon, Jordy Reid and Ollie Stedman all dotted the ball down during a memorable 80 minutes in the Autumn sunshine.

The raced out of the blocks and scored their first try after just 90 seconds with Pat Howard diving over the line. The returning Kieran Murphy carried through the defence after gathering the bas from the top of a lineout, and he offloaded to the centre who ran clear from outside the 22 to score under the posts.

Alun Walker then drove over the line from a trademark rolling maul after a penalty was kicked to the corner and gathered by the hooker, before Howard scored his second from long range after intercepting and running the length of the pitch. That extended the lead to 19-3 with just 15 minutes on the clock.

Coventry then responded with a counter attack as they had the ball deep in the 22 and spun the ball wide to Anthony Fenner who had the pace to dive over in the corner for their first try of the match.

That seemed to have settled the visitors but the Trailfinders hit back in devastating fashion to secure the bonus point on the half hour mark with a spell of three tries in four minutes. Peter Lydon took an awkward high ball and drew in the final defender before unleashing a looping pass to Segundo Tuculet who had a clear run to the line for his first try for the club.

That was then followed by a remarkable try from Rayn Smid who marked his 50th appearance with a superb score. Murphy and Cordy Redden combined with a pair of neat offloads from 80 metres out and then Smid was on hand to race away as the try came straight from the restart.

Cordy Redden then scored their sixth try of the half and continued his try-scoring run to all but secure the win as a disguised lineout ball allowed an inside ball to find the winger in acres of space. Tom Denton gathered the ball from the top of Walker’s throw and found Jordy Reid who fooled the Coventry defence by passing inside to the winger who flew through the gap.

Coventry scored just before half time to bring themselves back in to the match as Max Trimble stepped his way to the line, but Lydon’s penalty with the final play of the half sent the teams went down the tunnel after a breathless opening 40 minutes which saw the Trailfinders hold a 41-13 lead.

Lydon started the second half in similar fashion to the first half with an early try. The full-back pounced on a wide ball from Craig Willis to score in the corner, but the visitors hit back when Trimble scored his second straight after from inside the 22 as the game began to open up.

Jordy Reid then powered over the line on the hour mark from the base of a scrum to bring up the half century, but Coventry captain Heath Stevens then sneaked his way to the line from a lineout inside the 22 to give the visitors a four-try bonus point.

Ollie Stedman then rounded off the scoring with the final play of the game after powerful carry from close range meant that the back-rower couldn’t be stopped, and Lydon’s sixth conversion brought up the 60 point mark to cue huge celebrations from the home supporters.

Ealing Trailfinders:

15 Peter Lydon 14 Segundo Tuculet 13 Guy Armitage 12 Pat Howard 11 James Cordy Redden 10 Craig Willis (replaced by Sam Olver, 60 mins) 9 Ryan Foley (replaced by Jordan Burns, 65 mins) 1 Alex Lundberg (replaced by Jake Ellwood, 50 mins) 2 Alun Walker (replaced by Matt Cornish, 50 mins) 3 Ben Betts (replaced by Elliot Millar Mills, 35 mins) 4 Ben West (replaced by Jordan Onojaife, 75 mins) 5 Tom Denton 6 Kieran Murphy (replaced by Ollie Stedman, 65 mins) 7 Jordy Reid 8 Rayn Smid (c)

Replacements:

16 Matt Cornish 17 Jake Ellwood 18 Elliot Millar Mills 19 Jordan Onojaife 20 Ollie Stedman 21 Jordan Burns 22 Sam Olver

Scorers:

Tries: Pat Howard (2, 12 minutes) Alun Walker (8 minutes) Segundo Tuculet (27 minutes) Rayn Smid (28 minutes) James Cordy Redden (31 minutes) Peter Lydon (51 minutes) Jordy Reid (60 minutes) Ollie Stedman (79 minutes)

Conversions: Peter Lydon (2, 12, 28, 31, 60, 80 minutes)

Penalties: Peter Lydon (40 minutes)

Yellow Card: Segundo Tuculet

Coventry:

15 Tony Fenner 14 Rob Knox 13 Heath Stevens (c) 12 Sam Tuitupou 11 Max Trimble 10 Jake Sharp 9 Pete White 1 James Gibbons 2 Phil Nilsen 3 Luc Jeannot 4 Tom Jubb 5 George Oram 6 Dan Faleafa 7 Ben Nutley 8 Ben Adams

Replacements:

16 Scott Tolmie 17 Charlie Beech 18 Jack Higgins 19 Adam Peters 20 Jack Preece 21 Tom Kessell 22 Junior Bulumakau

Scorers:

Tries: Anthony Fenner (22 minutes) Max Trimble (34, 54 minutes) Heath Stevens (70 minutes)

Conversions: Jake Sharp (70 minutes)

Penalties: Jake Sharp (4 minutes)

Yellow Card: Heath Stevens

Match Officials:

Referee: Dean Richards

Assistant Referees: Ian Bibey & Lionel Spooner

Fourth Official: Ben Wilde

Half Time Score: Ealing Trailfinders 41 – 13 Coventry

Attendance: 740

Harrison’s Vintners & Delicatessen Man of the Match: Pat Howard