Richmond vs Ealing Trailfinders

Match Report

Ealing Trailfinders returned to league action in the best possible fashion, with a dominant 0-50 victory over Richmond.

James Cordy-Redden secured a brace, with Craig Hampson and Jonah Holmes also on the end of impressive scores as the Trailfinders ran in eight tries down at the Athletic Ground.

As the game got underway in the London derby, the green and whites didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard. Constant pressure allowed Andrew Davidson to find a soft shoulder as he burst through the defensive line, before running over the final defender to dot down inside five minutes.

Just two minutes later the visitors were in again, this time through their scrum-half. Some quick ball off a regathered kick allowed Jack Digby to gallop through a hole in the Richmond defence. The number 8 selflessly drew the final man, before releasing Hampson to score.

After early dominance, the next 20 minutes saw the hosts in the ascendancy, camped five metres out from the Trailfinders line. Despite this content pressure, the green and white wall stood firm and eventually they were able to clear without the scoreboard being altered.

Having been starved attacking ball, the next time Trailfinders got an opportunity, they made it count. Off the line-out the ball was flung wide, as Holmes accelerated down the touchline before fending off the final defender to score in the corner.

Then on the half-hour mark, the West-Londoners had wrapped up the bonus point. A similar set up saw the ball go wide, but this time to Cordy-Redden. Instead of pinning his ears back like Holmes, the winger cut inside, beating four defenders, to impressively muscle his way over to make the scores 0-26, and it stayed this way until half-time.

The second 40 got underway in a very similar fashion to the first with it taking just eight minutes for Alun Walker to barge over for his fifth try in the last four games on the back of a powerful rolling maul.

Just after the 50 minute mark Trailfinders were down to 14 for ten minutes after James Gibbons was shown a yellow card for a cynical penalty near his own line. Despite this, the visitors still refused to concede and then on 60 minutes they went over for their sixth try after Shaun Malton made a delightful break through the middle before offloading to Simon Linsell to score.

Back to a full compliment, Trailfinders looked to close the game out without conceding. The easiest way to do this was to keep attacking, and with 10 minutes remaining Cordy-Redden got his second after a tap penalty in the midfield drew in the defence allowing the winger a 1-on-1 out wide which was all he needed.

Then, with the clock almost in the red, Luke Daniels found himself in space on the wing. With two defenders in front of him, he bumped off the first tackler before out-pacing the second to bring up the half century for the visitors and cap off arguably their best performance of 2023 so far.

Tickets are now on sale for our next home fixture against London Scottish on Saturday 11th March at Trailfinders Sports Club (KO 3pm). Click here to purchase tickets. To book our delicious pre-match hospitality email: hospitality@etprm.com.

Full-time Score: Richmond 00-50 Ealing Trailfinders

T: Davidson 5′, Hampson 7′, Holmes 25′, Cordy-Redden 30′, 70′, Walker 48′, Linsell 60′, Daniels 80′

C: Willis 5′, 8′, 31′, 48′, 61’\