Alex Kritikos, playing at centre, signed off in fine style as an Ealing Trailfinders 1871 player before moving to Portugal with a hat-trick of tries in a dominant display that keeps 1871 2nds top of Middlesex Merit Table 1. On a hard pitch after weeks of little rain, Ealing, fielding ex-Colts debutants Johnnie O’Neill at loose-head prop and Logan Flint at second row, new Kiwi recruit John Borland alongside Flint, the returning Jack Feeney at hooker and others such as Yassin Saheb on the left wing and Niko Laqeretabua at flanker with only a couple of games under their belt, showed great skill and commitment to bag a total of seven tries.  This was testament to strong organisation and physicality despite a stop-start afternoon with a total of over 40 penalties awarded over the course of the 80 plus minutes.

Ealing’s intent and confidence was clear from the kick-off, when the ball was secured and captain Harrison Slater sent a long, testing kick across field towards the left-hand try line. Yassin Saheb was first to the ball and sent a neat pass inside to Niall Reilly, who touched down, but the referee, some way behind play, adjudged the pass to have been forward. Undeterred, Ealing pressured the resulting scrum and gained a penalty, which was kicked to touch. A clean catch was taken, extra bodies were thrown into the maul and Pat Yeates, playing at flanker, touch down for the opening score. With a quarter of an hour gone the irrepressible Kritikos went low and hard from a line-out catch and drive to finish close to the uprights. A third try followed with Feeney touching down at the base of another unstoppable catch and drive, and Cornish’s only score of the day just before the break left the score at 17-5.

Ealing allowed no let-up as the second period began, and Kritikos forced his way over the line after a line-out steal deep in Cornish territory. Just two minutes later, Marquis Daly-Vidal finished powerfully on the right wing, and would have added a second a few minutes later with an excellent chase of an astute kick ahead by Slater from a turnover in midfield but was impeded off the ball, leading to the award of a penalty try. With 20 minutes remaining, Danny O’Sullivan at full back called a mark and launched an attack on the left. Slater made 30 metres before being tackled, the ball was quickly recycled and Kritikos capped a memorable afternoon by bursting through several attempted tackles to finish under the posts.

This Saturday, 25 October, the 2nds are in cup action at home to Rosslyn Park, while the 3rds have a cup tie away to HAC.