Trailfinders Women completed their PWR campaign in fantastic fashion with a scintillating 54-27 victory over Harlequins at the Stoop.
The bonus point win means that Trailfinders leapfrog above Harlequins into sixth to cap off a brilliant first season as an elite outfit.
It was an electric start from Trailfinders Women as Abby Dow ripped the ball free in midfield two minutes in and raced away to score under the posts completely untouched. Green converted.
One try became two just minutes after following a brave charge down by Megan Barwick, with the ball colliding off her face and falling kindly for Liz Crake, who used her boot to nudge it over the line and collapsed on top of it.
Ella Cromack reduced the deficit for Harlequins off the tee after successive infringements inside the Trailfinders half gifted Quins a penalty in front of the posts.
Dominant from the off, Trailfinders struck again 14 minutes in through a sensational effort from Carys Cox, who ran in untouched all the way from inside the Trailfinders half, outpacing all the defenders in her sight to dot down under the posts. Green converted.
Successive penalties pinged Trailfinders back inside their 22, and sustained pressure from Quins saw Abi Burton sent to the sin bin for an offside infringement on the line.
With no penalty try given, Harlequins kicked to the corner with 25 minutes on the clock and scored straight off the rolling maul through their captain Jade Konkel. The conversion went just wide.
Give Abby Dow an inch, and she will take a mile. Harlequins initially knock on, but Vicky Laflin retrieves the ball and makes a brilliant bursting break through midfield, and when felled provided a delightful pop up to Dow, who does what she does best and just scores with an incredible turn of pace. Green’s conversion was good.
Quins hit back 35 minutes in through Lagi Tuima as she burst away from the Trailfinders line on their 22 to dot down. Cormack added the extras.
The away side were not finished for the half however, as Dow played an outstanding pass amidst the chaos of a broken line into Cox, who broke away with a rapid turn of speed to feed in Julia Schell in a two on one on the left flank to score in the corner. Green’s fantastic conversion left the score 15-33 at half time.
The departing Elisa Riffoneau demonstrated just how much of a miss she will be next season 10 minutes into the second half, after some dazzling hands from Trailfinders and an incredible long pass from Tyson Beukeboom fed in Rosie Inman down the right, who popped it inside to Riffoneau off a big breakaway to finish off. Green converted.
Quins hit back five minutes later off the rolling maul again, and with a successful conversion from Cromack, the lead was reduced to 18 points.
Dow secured her hat-trick 68 minutes in with yet another bit of brilliance, bursting through a well-set Quins line as if it wasn’t there to dive over the whitewash from 40 metres out. Green’s excellent day with the boot continued.
The home side scored a consolation try on 78 minutes through Katie Shillaker, who intercepted an offload from Laflin and raced away to score.
The error cleared from memory as quick as control, alt, delete, a mere minute later Laflin was back again making another classy breakaway from the Quins line. This time her pass was perfect, popping the ball up off the ground for Abi Burton to score under the posts in the last play of the game. Schell converted to cap off a brilliant victory and Trailfinders’ first 50+ PWR score!
Ealing Trailfinders capped off their Championship winning campaign in style with a 59-12 rout of fourth placed Bedford Blues.
A hat-trick of tries from Reuben Bird-Tulloch, two from Angus Kernohan and scores from Simon Uzokwe, Cam Terry, Tom Collins and Frankie Sleightholme wrapped up the 2023-24 season in perfect fashion.
Uzokwe opened the scoring for the home side nine minutes in, crashing over the line after sustained pressure inside the Bedford 22. Dan Lancaster converted.
The hat-trick hero and man of the match Bird-Tulloch then extended the lead 10 minutes later after some slick hands in midfield allowed him to score untouched. Lancaster added the extras.
Bedford hit back through Joe Howard off the rolling maul on their third visit to the redzone, having knocked on the previous two times. Maisey missed the conversion.
The departing Lancaster signed off with a classy performance, epitomised by his use of the boot as he sent a delightful cross-field kick into Kernohan, who, despite being taken out in the air, ploughed through two defenders to score in the right-hand corner.
Straight off the kick-off Trailfinders were in again, as Bird-Tulloch notched his second try of the day through some brilliant hands again in midfield. Lancaster’s conversion was good.
Making matters worse for the away side, Luke Frost was sent to the sinbin for back chat to the referee just before the interval.
Starting off the second half just as they had finished the first, further infringements by the Blues reduced them to 13 players for the next five minutes, as Dean Adamson was carded for a deliberate knock on.
Trailfinders levelled the playing field however, as Frankie Sleightholme was also sent to the sinbin for an illegal tackle.
The home side, jubilant in their successful campaign, decided to pull some tricks out of the bag, as Lancaster fooled the entirety of Vallis Way with a cross-field kick off a penalty into Kernohan, who dotted down completely unchallenged.
Bedford scored their second and final try of the day through Sean French, whose slicing line carved straight through the Trailfinders defence to dot down under the posts. Maisey converted.
The Trailfinders rolling maul has been unstoppable all season, and it proved that way again 60 minutes in as Cam Terry crashed over the whitewash. Lancaster added the extras.
Bedford then found themselves down to 14 players again as Sean French was this time sent to the sinbin for a tip tackle.
The home side took full advantage of this through Tom Collins, after supporters’ player of the season Matt Cornish won the ball back inside the Bedford 22, and some quick hands fed in Collins for a clinical finish. Lancaster added the conversion.
Bird-Tulloch completed his hat-trick 71 minutes in after phase play broke down, parting the seas for him to cruise in untouched again. Lancaster’s excellent day from the boot continued.
The game, and a sensational season, was concluded rather fittingly by a brilliant try on debut from Sleightholme, who found himself in a 2 on 1 with Tom Collins down the left to score Trailfinders’ ninth try of the day. Lancaster’s effort from the boot was good again, leaving the final score 59-12.
Trailfinders Women’s final home game of the season ended in the narrowest of defeats, losing 18-19 to Loughborough Lightning in their PWR clash at TFSC.
Tries from Abby Dow, Vicky Laflin and two Ellie Green penalties left Trailfinders just short against a tough Loughborough side, despite their phenomenal efforts.
A remarkably long opening phase of play lead to Lightning’s first try, as back and forth possession forced the away side to attack with width, resulting in a try from Laura Keates.
Trailfinders hit back through Red Rose superstar Abby Dow, using her lightning pace to score down the left flank, after an excellently retrieved box kick by Megan Barwick set the home side up in great territory.
Ellie Green then put Trailfinders ahead from the tee after successive Loughborough infringements 18 minutes in.
Lightning were further penalised seven minutes later, this time for not rolling away just outside their 22, and Green’s kick at goal rattled off the posts and over to make it 11-7.
Loughborough then thought they had retrieved the lead shortly after, as some fluid play orchestrated by Emily Scarratt had them over the line, but it was called back for a knock on.
In answer to this close call, Trailfinders responded with some spectacular rugby to extend their lead to 11 points.
The move began with Dow, whose chase off Ella Amory’s excellent box-kick was nothing short of perfect, and with some quick ball out, Green put in a delightful cross-field kick into Laflin on the right, who burst away to score. Green’s conversion was good.
Loughborough’s rolling maul began to prove a problem for the home side, as they found out three minutes later through Kathryn Treder, who bundled over the whitewash to leave the score 18-12 at the break.
The start to the second half was a tense affair, with both sides probing but unable to capitalise.
They say lightning never strikes twice, but in Loughborough’s case it did 55 minutes in as Treder scored off the rolling maul again for her second of the day. Scarratt converted to take the lead.
The remainder of the game was back and forth, with mistakes denying both sides from fulfilling their attacking potential.
Loughborough managed to grind the game out in the closing stages, putting up solid defence and penning Trailfinders inside their own 22 before time ran out, leaving the final score 18-19.
Trailfinders Women fell to a 59-12 defeat at the hands of Gloucester-Hartpury at Kingsholm in the Allianz PWR.
Tries from Amanda McQuade and Rosie Inman were not enough to win points from the London club’s trip to the West Country.
This result leaves Trailfinders 7th with two games left to play.
The hosts dominated the first half, with the Cherry and Whites running in five tries and securing a try-scoring bonus point 10 minutes before the break.
Tries from Neve Jones, Emma Sing, Sarah Beckett, Maud Muir and Zoe Aldcroft meant that Gloucester-Hartpury were all but out of sight heading into the sheds.
However, despite the bleak reading on the scoreboard, Trailfinders would not lie down and take the beating.
An uptick in defensive intensity slowed Gloucester-Hartpury’s scoring rate and allowed Trailfinders to get more of the ball, which had been so barren for them in the first half.
While the hosts scored the next three through Cerys Hale and Mia Venner, a yellow card for Mackenzie Carson meant that the Cherry and Whites were down to 14 for 10 minutes.
Trailfinders capitalised and immediately got on the scoresheet through McQuade as the Irishwoman dove over the line from short range.
The travellers then scored a ripper with McQuade offloading to Liz Crake who broke through the line, creating the space for Inman to streak away down the right wing.
With Gloucester-Hartpury back to the full complement, Bethan Lewis then scored the game’s final try to ensure the hosts would come out 59-12 winners.
Trailfinders Women’s return to PWR action following the Women’s Six Nations ended in a tough defeat, losing 40-10 to Exeter Chiefs Women at TFSC.
Two late tries from Abby Dow ensured the home side did not endure a whitewash from the rampant Chiefs.
Exeter opened the scoring 12 minutes in through Irish international Cliodnha Moloney, crashing over the line off the rolling maul after successive Trailfinders penalties. Robyn Wilkins converted.
A smart Wilkins 50-22 put the Chiefs in excellent position again just three minutes later, which they fully capitalised on through Maisy Allen as she was the next beneficiary off of the powerful Chiefs rolling maul.
In a tough half for the home side, Rosie Inman looked the most dangerous threat as she burst through midfield with a quick inside step thirty minutes in, but the move broke down a few phases later.
Things went from bad to worse for Trailfinders after the break as Elisa Riffonneau was sent to the sinbin, and it only took one phase for Exeter to take advantage through Wilkins, who burst through a gap in the line 10 metres out to score. She converted her own try.
Three minutes later Chiefs were in again as they continued to make use of their player advantage, this time through Eilidh Sinclair as she cruised in unopposed down the right flank off a looping pass.
Riffonneau had barely returned to the fray before Thea Sylvester was sinbinned for collapsing the maul
Again, the Chiefs pulled the hampered Trailfinders apart as Moloney got her second of the day in the exact same fashion as her first, crashing over the whitewash off the rolling maul.
The numbers evened up after Harriet Millar-Mills was the next player to be sinbinned, but Trailfinders did little with it.
Exeter scored their sixth and final try of the day through Niamh Orchard, after some brilliant flowing hands off a breakaway set up Orchard five metres out, and she outstretched her arm to dot down on the line.
Two moments of brilliance from the unbelievable Dow ensured Trailfinders got points on the scoreboard, both in quite similar fashion.
The first came from a break down the left creating a two on one, and when Dow is in the beneficial position of receiving the ball on the wing there was no way she was not scoring.
Not satisfied with that one try, Trailfinders turned over the Exeter scrum on their 22, and quickly dispatched the ball out to Dow who burst through the line and cruised into score in the last play of the game.
Ealing Trailfinders were crowned 23/24 Championship Champions after their 20-12 loss to Doncaster at Castle Park due to Cornish Pirates’ win over Coventry.
Tries from Matt Cornish and Tom Collins were not enough to give Trailfinders the win on the day.
The result sets up the perfect end to the campaign as Ealing Trailfinders host Bedford Blues on May 25th.
Surprisingly given the stakes, Trailfinders started brightly. Playing straight into the Doncaster 22 and giving Cornish the opportunity to score one of his patented tries on the back of Trailfinders’ rolling maul.
However, this is where the creative freedom would stop for the Trailfinders with the game turning into a scrappy affair despite the perfect atmospheric conditions.
The Castle Park faithful had to wait almost 20 minutes for the next score. Ex-Trailfinder Ollie Fox crossing the whitewash against his old club to level the scores.
Bad then turned to worse as Craig Willis and Tom Collins were yellow carded in quick succession leaving Trailfinders with 13.
Following Tom Collins’ sin bin, Russ Bennett knocked over an easy penalty to leave the Knights up 10-7 at the break.
Much like the first term, the second half was a tense affair.
Trailfinders dealt with their player deficit well early on in the half, and back to the full compliment, created enough space for Tom Collins to beat two Doncaster players to finish brilliantly in the corner.
Doncaster would reply instantly, however, to grab the lead back with 20 to play in the game.
With a Russ Bennett penalty tacked on, Doncaster would close out the occasion to win 20-12.
Following Cornish Pirates 22-12 victory over Coventry, however, Ealing Trailfinders were crowned champions.
Thank you so much to all the fans that have supported us all year.
Ealing Trailfinders took complete control of their Championship title destiny with an emphatic 57-14 victory over an in-form Amphtill at Trailfinders Sports Club.
It took the league leaders only two minutes to lay down their marker, as heavy pressure inside the Ampthill 5-metre line allowed Matt Cornish to dive on a charged down box kick and give Trailfinders the lead.
The home side then extended their lead four minutes later through James Cordy-Redden, who ran a hard support line off scrum-half Craig Hampson to crash over the line.
A bizarre try got Ampthill back into the game, as ex-Trailfinders Academy player Brandon Jackson grubber kicked the ball twice to himself down the left flank to then set up Tom Bacon to score under the posts.
It did not take long for Trailfinders hit back however through Craig Willis, who sold the Ampthill defence with a dummy and then spun his way over the line from five metres out.
Willis then turned from scorer to provider as Trailfinders secured the bonus point 27 minutes in, making a brilliant breakaway on the halfway line as he sold the defence with a dummy again, to then pass inside to Dan O’Brien for an easy finish.
Ampthill emerged from the interval the more positive side, and they reduced the deficit through some classy work from Jackson again, who broke down the left with a burst of pace and delivered a delightful pass inside to Charlie Bracken for a simple score.
Trailfinders quashed the brief resurgence however through Richard Hardwick, crashing over the line off the back of the rolling maul.
With Ampthill unable to stop the powerful rolling maul, Mike Willemse then emulated Hardwick’s try ten minutes later to make it 38-14.
Relentless in attack, the home side continued to add on the tries, scoring their seventh through Rayn Smid, powering over the line on the right-hand side.
Next up to score was Cian Kelleher, using his remarkable pace to round the defence in the left-hand corner and dot down following a tremendous Barney Maddison breakaway.
Rounding off the game in style, Lloyd Williams finished off a well-worked team move that had two impressive offloads down the left flank to leave the final score 57-14.
Trailfinders Women defeated Harlequins Women 42-31 in the Allianz Cup 7th Place Playoff to secure their first-ever win in a London derby.
A brace from Rowena Burnfield and tries from Vicky Laflin, Abi Burton and Liz Musgrove, along with 17 points off the boot of Ellie Green, secured 7th for Trailfinders over their West-London rivals.
This concludes the 23/24 Allianz Cup campaign, with Trailfinders hosting Exeter in the Allianz PWR next up.
The game began at break-neck speed, with Quins conceding consecutive penalties at the breakdown. This gave Trailfinders the ball deep in the hosts’ red zone, and Burnfield converted the opportunity from the pick-and-go.
The pace of the match continued. Laflin made a break down the left wing, forcing Quins out of their defensive organisation. As a result, they were pinged for offside. This gave Green her first penalty kick of the game, taking the score to 10-0 in as many minutes.
Laflin continued to exert herself on the occasion in the following play. Liz Musgrove pounced on turnover ball and broke through the Quins line, finding the new England call-up, who scored from 40 metres out.
Quins then answered back with a try of their own through Rosie Dobson.
The hooker’s score was somewhat of a catalyst for the home side’s fight back, as they scored again through Aseza Hele.
However, Trailfinders had the final act of the first half, as Burnfield dotted down at the back of a thunderous scrum to make the score 24-14 at the break.
The second term started even faster than the first. Quins kicked a Trailfinders kick-off back to the travellers and right down the throat of Laflin, who produced an extraordinary mazy run through the on-coming Harlequins defence only to be dragged down inches from the whitewash. Burton capitalised on Laflin’s break, diving over from short range to score.
It then went from bad to worse for the hosts as Emily Scott was yellow carded for a high tackle on Burton, giving Green the chance to convert another shot at goal.
Musgrove then made Quins pay for the yellow card, as Ella Amory recognised a poor kick chase and found the Scottish winger in acres down the left wing to go over the whitewash.
A final Green penalty followed, leaving the final score 42-31 to Trailfinders, who took the bragging rights home to their part of West London.
Trailfinders Women put in a brilliant performance in their return to action as they beat Leicester Tigers Women 54-5 in their Allianz Cup clash at TFSC.
A hat-trick of tries from Abi Burton and scores from Lindelwa Gwala, Shya Pinnock, Rosie Inman, Liz Musgrove and Emma Swords secured a finish of at least 8th in the competition.
Trailfinders started the game off strongly and got on the scoreboard eight minutes in through Gwala, as she crashed over the whitewash off the rolling maul. Ellie Green’s conversion was good.
Pinnock was next to get on the scoresheet as she powered her way over the line, after a brilliant kick in behind by Green into Liz Musgrove put Trailfinders in great attacking territory. Green added the extras.
Tigers then answered back with 25 minutes on the clock through Zoë Evans as she burst down the left wing to score following some swift hands in the midfield. The conversion was unsuccessful.
Whilst Trailfinders were the better side throughout, it was not until the second half that they showed how good a team they are, running in six tries.
Burton scored the first of her hattrick of tries three minutes into the second half, as she drove her way over from five metres out after Pinnock had made a brilliant breakaway through the Tigers defence. Green’s conversion was successful.
The rampant Trailfinders scored again seven minutes later via a brilliant solo try from Inman, who ran coast to coast to dot down after some slick hands left her in space on the right wing. Green’s conversion clattered back off the post.
The tries kept coming as Green continued to use her boot to exploit the space in behind the Tigers defence, setting up Musgrove for an easy score in the corner only three minutes later. Green’s conversion was successful.
Swords added her name to the scoresheet after sustained pressure left Trailfinders just outside the Tigers try line, which she took full advantage of with a brilliant snipe finish under the posts. The conversion was good.
The Team GB 7’s star Burton finished the game off with two tries in quick succession to complete her hat-trick.
With just under ten minutes to go, Burton burst through the Tigers defence on the halfway line and could not be stopped, cruising her way through to score the home side’s seventh try. Green nailed the conversion.
Not content with two tries, Burton broke through the Tigers defence again after a great run from player of the match Megan Barwick, who popped the ball up for Burton to score. Green’s seventh conversion from eight left the final score 54-5.
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