Ealing Trailfinders 1871’s visit to Chiswick for the return fixture against close rivals London Scottish Lions lived up to its billing as one of the games of the season, and ended in agonising defeat after 80 minutes of high-intensity rugby in front of a large and vociferous crowd.

The Scots, fired up after their single-point defeat in the reverse fixture on the 4G at Wasps FC back in October, showed early ascendancy in the set scrum and maul, and took the lead with 5 minutes gone, driving over from a penalty line-out. Ealing eased their way back into the game but conceded penalties when shunted backwards at the scrum on a heavy pitch to which large amounts of sand had been added. With a quarter of the game gone, the Lions stretched their lead to 8 points with a penalty awarded in front of the posts. 1871 were stung into action and dominated play for the rest of the half. Five minutes after the Scottish try had been scored, they won a lineout in an attacking position. Flanker Gereint Price secured clean ball, and after a wave of attacks has been repelled full-back Lewis Steadman found some space wide on the left and kept his balance to fall over the line despite being half-tackled. The difficult conversion attempt was missed. On the half-hour mark Ealing moved into the lead, with Lewis Steadman again on the score sheet, this time appearing on the right wing and finishing well after outside centre Max Muirhead had punched a large hole in the defence. Undeterred by these setbacks, the Lions drew another penalty to move to within striking distance of the Ealing line. With the referee signalling advantage for another penalty, an accurate cross-field kick enabled the left wing to stretch across the line, for a try well converted from wide out. Ealing then enjoyed another period of territorial dominance and hit the upright with a penalty attempt by Harry Vidler as the end of the first 40 minutes approached. Scottish eventually conceded another penalty after strong runs by props Tim Hitchcock and Dan O’Mahony. Vidler added the 3 points from in front of the posts to leave the score poised at 15-13 to the Lions at the break.

With the injured O’Mahony replaced by the returning Liam McDonagh and Kyle Beck making a long-awaited return from injury at scrum half for the second half, neither side managed to stamp their authority on the game, but Ealing came close to a breakthrough on 56 minutes. A typically mazy run by wing Josh Steadman was stopped by a desperate last-ditch tackle with no arms, for which the Scottish player was yellow-carded. Vidler stroked over the penalty to put Ealing ahead for the first time in the game. The lead proved to be fairly short-lived, however, when Beck’s foot slipped as he attempted a clearance kick over the scrum from a deep defensive position. A Scottish player was first to the charged-down ball, and the conversion put the Lions 6 points ahead, much to the delight of the home support. Resolute defence kept Ealing at bay as the minutes ticked by. With time nearly up, Scottish opted for the posts when awarded another penalty at the scrum. A miscued kick gave Ealing one last opportunity to attack from deep, but a knock-on around the half-way line eventually brought an end to a pulsating contest.

Narrow defeat, with one league point against four for the Lions, leaves 1871 needing to win their remaining four games, ideally with bonus points, and hoping that results elsewhere go their way. This Saturday, 4th February, brings a visit to Tabard, in a re-arranged fixture after the pre-Christmas match was called off shortly before kick-off due to the frozen conditions.