Ealing Trailfinders vs London Scottish

Match Report

Ealing Trailfinders recorded their third consecutive victory in the Championship Cup over a spirited London Scottish side at Trailfinders Sports Club.

Ben Ward’s men scored five tries in a 29-15 win as they set up a pool decider against Jersey Reds next weekend on the Channel Island.

The visitors started strongly and scored the first points of the afternoon courtesy of a Jacob Perry penalty from 30 metres, but from then the Trailfinders dominated the first half as they built a convincing lead.

A spell of three tries in 10 minutes saw them take control of the match, with the first coming from Alun Walker who extended his try-scoring run. The ball went loose from a lineout and some great hands in the middle set up an overlap on the right wing which allowed the hooker a clear run to the line. The conversion went wide but the hosts had the lead, which was quickly extended by Will Harries.

The scrum was functioning extremely well which was resulting in penalty after penalty, and with the ball kicked to the corner Ben Ward’s side had a great position to build from. In similar fashion to the first try, they went through the hands and found the Welshman in the corner who dived over the line unattended.

Jordan Burns then extended the lead after the scrum-half capitalised on a strong run from Rayn Smid to gather the flanker’s offload and race to the line, whilst Josh Barton was sent to the sin bin in the process.

The Trailfinders secured the try bonus point before the break as Jordan Els mauled over the line in the closing stages. A fierce maul progressed all of 20 metres before the South African marked his first start for the club with a five pointer to put his side 22-3 up at the break.

Jordan Burns got the hosts’ fifth try on the 50 minute mark as once more he was the beneficiary of an impressive offload, this time from Harry Sloan who was making his first appearance of the season. The physical centre smashed his way over the gain line and released the scrum half who had the pace to run clear. Craig Willis added the extras to extend the lead to 26 points.

The Scots then took control in the final quarter as a late rally saw them score twice in the last 20 minutes. Jordan Brodley mauled over the line on the hour mark, and Josh Barton dummied from the base of a scrum with just five minutes left to give Dave Morris’ men a deserved late score.

The Green and Whites then closed out the match with some more impressive defensive sets as they secured another victory.

Ealing Trailfinders:

15 David Johnston 14 Will Harries 13 Guy Armitage (replaced by Harry Sloan, 50 mins) 12 Craig Willis 11 Seb Stegmann 10 Laurence May 9 Jordan Burns 1 Jordan Els (replaced by Alex Lundberg, 60 mins) 2 Alun Walker (replaced by Matt Cornish, 50 mins) 3 Elliot Millar Mills (replaced by George Davis, 75 mins) 4 Harry Casson (replaced by Ben West, 70 mins) 5 Tom Denton 6 Jordy Reid 7 Andrew Durutalo (replaced by Kieran Murphy, 60 mins) 8 Rayn Smid (c)

Replacements:

16 Matt Cornish 17 Alex Lundberg 18 George Davis 19 Ben West 20 Kieran Murphy 21 Ryan Foley 22 Harry Sloan

Scorers:

Tries: Alun Walker (8 minutes) Will Harries (14 minutes) Jordan Burns (19, 52 minutes) Jordan Els (35 minutes)

Conversions: Craig Willis (35, 52 minutes)

Yellow Cards: Jordy Reid, Ben West

London Scottish:

15 Elliott Obatoyinbo 14 Miles Mantella 13 Richie Vernon 12 Ben Mosses 11 Taino Goveia 10 Jacob Perry 9 Josh Barton 1 Jimmy Litchfield 2 Jared Saunders 3 Phil Cringle 4 Theo Vukasinovic 5 Byron Hodge 6 Miles Wakeling 7 Matt Eliet 8 Luke Frost

Replacements:

16 Billy Harding 17 Jordan Brodley 18 Dino Waldren 19 Mark Bright 20 Ed Hoadley 21 Rory Jennings 22 Fraser Lyle

Scorers:

Tries: Jordan Brodley (60 minutes) Josh Barton (77 minutes)

Conversions: Rory Jennings (77 minutes)

Penalties: Jacob Perry (2 minutes)

Yellow Cards: Josh Barton, Dino Waldren

Match Officials:

Referee: Alexander Thomas

Assistant Referees: Shane Lewis & Nick Marshall

Fourth Official: Benjamin Wilde

Half Time Score: Ealing Trailfinders 22 – 3 London Scottish

Attendance: 602

Harrison’s Vintners & Delicatessen Man of the Match: Elliot Millar Mills