In the first encounter between the two teams both sporting the Trailfinders badge, Brunel University came out on top in a game of high stakes, high quality and high physicality but were pushed all the away by Ealing 1871, who despite suffering their first setback of the season secured a losing bonus point and go into the Christmas and New Year break with a 3-point advantage at the top of the Counties 2 Herts & Middlesex table.

The game began with an intensity that continued through to the final whistle. Ealing immediately won a penalty for a tackle in the air from the kick-off and pinned their opponents back for a brief period, but the contest soon settled into a war of attrition, with thunderous tackles on both sides stopping any attempted line breaks. Brunel began to gain an edge in territory with their fly half Jack Thorn sending long, raking kicks downfield and chasers up quickly to prevent counterattacks, and minor infringements at the breakdown gave them opportunities to put points on the board, which were spurned in the belief that they could create tries. With 1871’s stout defence providing impenetrable, Thorn eventually opted to go for the posts with just 4 minutes to go in the first half and duly opened the scoring. Just before the break the league’s meanest defence was breached when a Brunel forward picked up at the base of a ruck and wrong-footed the would-be tacklers. Perhaps unnerved by the attempted charge-down, the Brunel No 10’s relatively straightforward conversion attempt sailed to the right of the posts.

While the line-outs had been something of a lottery, 1871’s scrum was clearly dominant in the first half, and ascendancy in the set-piece continued in the second period. Facing a deficit of 8-0, Ealing began brightly from the restart, scrum half Kyle Beck producing a trademark dart through a gap, and the home scrum forced a penalty under the posts. Despite the temptation to go for a potential seven points from the set piece, Ealing opted to take the three though Harry Vidler. With the league’s top two try-scoring teams locking horns it was slowly becoming clear that the route to victory was instead by exerting pressure, drawing penalties and kicking for goal if within range. Brunel soon extended the lead to 11-6. A superb 50-22 by Vidler pushed his team deep into Brunel territory, but the line out was lost, and around the three-quarter mark Brunel pushed their lead beyond two scores with another well-struck penalty. A goal-line dropout by Ealing was collected on the 22 metre line by Thorn, whose attempted drop goal was too close for 1871 comfort. However, another penalty awarded shortly afterwards for not rolling away increased the gap to 17-6. With yet another penalty leaving Ealing 14 points behind, they produced a rousing finish to the game in the search for a losing bonus point. With the set piece again dominating, they drove repeatedly for the line but were consistently repelled until Vidler missed out the centres with a long pass to Jack Hobbs to finish wide on the left. The difficult conversion would have secured the bonus but narrowly missed. Undeterred, a fired-up Ealing returned to the attack, and after again probing the line drew a penalty. Vidler nervelessly secured the three points and the vital consolation league point by dissecting the posts from his ‘wrong’ side, the left.

After an outstanding game worthy of a higher level in front a large and vociferous crowd, there was a sense of disappointment yet pride in a committed performance maintained over 80 minutes. The return fixture in March promises to be another titanic struggle.