Deprived of the services of captain Lewis Steadman, vice-captain Toby Holt and last season’s prolific try scorers Josh Steadman and Tim Hitchcock, Ealing 1871 faded in the last 15 minutes of a pulsating battle against a team who finished third in the league last season, ending with a points difference that failed to reflect the closeness of the game.

Ealing showed early dominance in the set pieces, notably in the set scrum, where the front row of Leo Codrington-Lambert, Luke Parry and Akeem Eubank-Anderson gave their opponents a torrid time. It was, however, Finchley who opened the scoring with just 7 minutes gone when an attempted clearance kick was charged down and the ball was quickly moved along the back line to the left for an easy finish and conversion. 1871 replied 5 minutes later when a particularly powerful scrum produced a penalty, followed by a second penalty in front of the posts. Quick thinking by scrum half Richard Rhydderch-Roberts with a pass out to wing Louis Aitcheson-Walker, who beat the would-be defender on the outside, created a try close to the touchline, from where the conversion attempt narrowly missed. The rest of the first period was evenly contested, but the visitors went into the break 12-5 ahead after a period pressure had led to a forward try.

Ealing deservedly reduced the deficit 7 minutes after the re-start, when Kyle Beck burst into the line with a surge of pace and delivered a well-timed pass back inside to Keir Gordon, who finished under the posts. Buoyed by this score, 1871 took the game to Finchley, but from turnover ball on their right Finchley moved the ball at pace and finished the move with a well-executed try on the left. To remain in contention, Ealing needed to be next to score, but Finchley instead stretched their lead to 26-12 with a converted try. Hope was restored with 15 minutes left on the clock with Jack Hobbs finishing from another break and cleverly delayed pass by Beck. However, Ealing began to tire, and with No 8 Alex Walker off the field with a head injury, Will Day suffering a recurrence of a hip injury and Gereint Price yellow-carded for a high tackle late in the game, the visitors put a gloss on the score to finish with six tries to Ealing’s three.

It was a game that 1871 could easily have won, but some handling errors in attack, contrasting with excellent ball retention by their opponents, proved crucial, and insufficient advantage was gained from complete dominance up front. Captain for the day Harry Vidler was pleased with the level of commitment shown, commenting that it was a game that showed Ealing what this level is all about and that the team never gave up and gave their heart for the badge. Man of the match was tight-head prop Akeem Eubank-Anderson.

On Saturday 21 September, Ealing 1871 have their first away trip in Counties 1 Herts & Middlesex, making the short journey to Chiswick, another team to finish in the upper reaches of the league last season.