Ealing Trailfinders beat Bedford Blues 41-21, opening their Championship campaign in fine fashion.

A brace from Cian Kelleher and scores from Reuben Bird Tulloch, Will Montgomery, Barney Maddison and Max Bodilly secured all 5 points for the away side.

This sets them up very well as they head int round two of the Championship season away to Hartpury.

The Blues opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Sean French received a sumptuous cross-field kick from fly-half Will Maisey to put the home side ahead. Maisey converted the extra points.

Bedford’s ill-discipline early on in the first quarter led to both Jordan Onojaife and captain Alex Day being sent to the sin bin in consecutive minutes.

Trailfinders quickly capitalised on their extra men as Cian Kelleher scored uncontested on the wing following a 5m scrum. Craig Willis’ conversion unluckily bounced off the post, and the home team kept the lead.

This was short-lived, however, as ex-Bedford Blue Reuben Bird-Tulloch crossed the whitewash after breaking through the line. Willis’s conversion was good, and Trailfinders took a 12-7 lead.

A scintillating 25-metre breakaway from Will Montgomery pushed Trailfinders down the pitch.

Bedford’s discipline did not improve, as they conceded a penalty after the carry, and Oisin Heffernan received their third yellow card of the half.

Trailfinders again took advantage of the extra numbers, as Cian Kelleher scored his second try of the day in the corner. Willis converted the extra points with a brilliant kick from the corner.

It was the 14-man Blues who scored the last try of the half. Kieran Curran took advantage of a gap in the Trailfinders defence to score from 20 metres. The conversion was successful, and the teams went into the half 14-19.

The second half got off to a slow start as both sides struggled to get going. In the 54th minute, Trailfinders benefitted from yet another penalty, and from the resulting maul, Will Montgomery bundled the ball over the line. Willis slotted home the conversion, extending Trailfinders’ lead to 12 points.

Bedford answered back.

This time, Trailfinders conceded a penalty on the halfway line. After the resulting lineout, Bedford put together a flowing move, and Ethan Grayson stretched out to place the ball over the line. Maisey’s added the extra points to leave the score 21-26.

It was a tense last 10 minutes. A penalty resulting from a scrum in the Bedford half allowed Trailfinders to extend the lead by three points.

Bedford’s poor discipline continued, and a penalty allowed Trailfinders inside the Blues 22. After multiple successive phases, Captain Barney Maddison all but secured the win, scoring their fifth try of the game.

Trailfinders were not done. As the clock hit 80 minutes, Josh Taylor made a brilliant 50-metre break through the Blues’ defence.

He was brought down just short of the line, but two passes later, Max Bodilly scored in the corner to end the game.

Ealing Trailfinders survived a late second-half comeback, as they secured a 31-40 victory away at Bedford Blues.

At one point the visitors were 12-33 in front, but Bedford cut loose in the final 20 and managed to bring it the score back to 31-33 with six minutes to go.

But a late score from the league’s top scorer Carlo Tizzano, helped the league leaders maintain their six point lead at the top, and also end Bedford’s unbeaten home record this season.

It was a game where the Trailfinders flew out of the blocks, with Alun Walker marauding down the right touchline before getting the ball back inside to Luke Daniels who dotted down after two minutes. The winger, who was given the kicking duties for the afternoon, impressively converted from the touchline to get the visitors off to the perfect start.

Bedford then responded quickly however. First they dotted down from close range, before then getting their second on the quarter of an hour mark after an exciting passage of play saw them take advantage of an overlap.

Now with the momentum against them, Trailfinders went back to their basics which sae them grab a quick fire double of their own.

First Craig Hampson sold an outrageous dummy from close range to muscle over after a powerful rolling maul had come up just short. Then with five minutes left of the first half, a wayward kick to Jonah Holmes saw the fullback cut free. The Welshman spotted a gap in the defensive line, and despite being tap-tackled, managed to get back to his feet before offloading to Andrew Davidson. The second-row then released Simon Uzokwe, and the number eight put on the afterburners to run in the score from 30m out. Daniels converted both scores to make it Bedford Blues 12-21 Ealing Trailfinders at the break.

The second 40 started in very similar fashion to the first, Trailfinders scoring early. It took just four minutes for Walker to muscle over on the back of a powerful rolling maul, as the visitors grabbed the bonus point after just 44 minutes.

Throughout the afternoon, Trailfinders had had some serious scrum dominance, and on the 55th minute, the referee ran out of patience as he sent the Bedford prop to the bin. Instantly they made the extra numbers pay, as they worked the ball from right to left, tying in the defenders and making space for Max Bodilly to score in the corner.

With twenty minutes to go and the score being 12-33, Trailfinders should have cruised to victory, but Bedford had other ideas. Dean Adamson and Michael Le Bouigoius went over either side of a Cian Kelleher yellow card to make it 24-33. Then with the game entering the final stages, Jake Garside grabbed the visitors’ fifth to make it a two point game with six minutes to go.

Trailfinders could have then been shell shocked after this rapid comeback from the hosts, but they regrouped and slowly reasserted their dominance. After repeated penalties, Tizzano crashed over with three minutes to play to ensure the victory and see them return to Ealing with all five points!

It was a performance the whole team can be proud of, but it was a particularly proud day for George Davis, as the tighthead not only dominated the scrum, but he also made his 50th appearance for the club and was presented with his cap after the game.