Ealing Exiles achieved a satisfying victory over Hayes in a keenly but fairly fought battle under the lights at Vallis Way, with four tries boosting their hopes of making the Middlesex Merit Table playoffs.

Watched by a sizable crowd in the evening cold, including few of the hardier individuals in a large contingent of Peebles RFC members spending the evening at the club ahead of what was to prove a famous Scotland victory at Twickenham, the game began a little untidily, but the Exiles came close to opening the scoring when scrum half Justin Green kicked through towards the Hayes try line but was just beaten to the ball. It gradually became apparent that the Exiles had far too much power for their opponents in the set scrums, with Ash Spencer at loose head particularly destructive on his six hundred and umpteenth appearance for the club.  A wave of attacks around the 20 minute mark eventually yielded a try by full back Matt Lacour, rounding the last defender. The Exiles came close to a second try through their dominant forwards a few minutes later, but the ball was held up on the line, leading to a drop-out.

With Hayes losing a front row, the scrum became uncontested, and the superior fitness of the Ealing players was becoming increasingly clear by the break.

Aidan Jones, marking his return to the club at No 8, provided a steady stream of clean line-out possession, as well as making several telling interventions across the field, and at the start of the second period earned his reward by receiving an offload from Conor Godfrey and finishing to the left of the posts. Just 2 minutes later he doubled his tally with a strong finish. With the game effectively won, there was a prolonged delay for an injury to a Hayes player, which initially looked worrying but turned out eventually not to be as serious as feared. With Hayes’ numbers depleted, three Exiles players swapped sides to see out the remaining minutes. One notable Ealing replacement was Harry Craig, back for a month from Auckland and making his appearance for the club for 6 years.

A candidate for Exiles try of the season looked certain when Will Warren picked up at the base of the scrum and headed at high speed for the try line, but inexplicably he fell flat on his face with 10 metres to go. One theory was a sniper in the crowd, with evidence quickly spreading on the club’s social media after the game.

"The Sniper"

The fourth try of the evening came shortly before the final whistle was blown 20 minutes early due to the mounting injury count, with an arcing run by Stanley Clauson, converted by Alex Adide.