Ealing Trailfinders vs Leicester Tigers

Match Report

Ealing Trailfinders fell just short in their phenomenal efforts to tame the Tigers, losing 29-21 in the semi-final of the Premiership Cup at TFSC.

Tries from Will Goodrick-Clarke and Mike Willemse, and three penalties from Billy Twelvetrees were not enough in a valiant performance.

Trailfinders started the stronger side as they dominated the scrum, forcing two Leicester penalties in kicking range, which Billy Twelvetrees dispatched with ease.

A yellow card for Bobby De Wee for a professional foul turned the tide of the game slightly, as the English rugby powerhouse capitalised on their player advantage.

Tigers’ Phil Cokanasiga scored the first try of the game as he burst through a gap in the Trailfinders defence, dragging two men with him to dot the ball over the line. Jamie Shillcock converted.

The away side then further extended the lead with their player advantage still intact, as Finn Theobald-Thomas drove over the line off the rolling maul. Shillcock missed the extras leaving the score 6-12 at half time.

Trailfinders started brilliantly in the second half and should have taken the lead through Craig Hampson, after a delightfully delayed pass from Dan Lancaster played in Max Bodilly, who weaved behind the Leicester line to tee up Hampson, but he could only knock on.

Leicester continued to be penalised for various infringements and Twelvetrees nailed a penalty through the posts to reduce the score to 12-9.

The dominance at the scrum continued for Trailfinders, and Leicester had Dan Richardson sent to the sin bin as a result.

In a moment of jubilation around TFSC, Goodrick-Clarke bundled over the whitewash for the home side’s first try of the game after successive Tigers penalties had them crunched onto their line. Twelvetrees conversion rattled the posts and missed, however.

Against the run of play Leicester managed to tally up 10 points in quick succession, as an interception-led try from Phil Cokanasiga and a penalty from Shillcock made it 22-14.

With their resilience never fading however, Trailfinders came back again through Willemse, who scored off a pick and go after successive phases. Twelvetrees slotted home the conversion to reduce the deficit to just one point with seven minutes to go.

In a heart-breaking conclusion, another interception in the Trailfinders half led to Matt Scott running freely through the Trailfinders line to score under the posts to kill off the game. Shillcock converted to leave the final score 29-21.