Ealing Trailfinders 1871 hosted Basingstoke on a typically warm 2026 summer’s day, in a friendly fixture switched to west London due to a bone-dry pitch that led to the Hampshire club’s pitches being featured on the national news. With squads of 22 players agreed, 1871 head coach Phil Smith gave starting debuts to Alex John, Alex Street and Andrea Cortellari, with Ade Owalabi, Finn McIlwraith and Ben Clarke making first appearances off the bench. Richard Rhydderch-Roberts made a welcome return after missing almost a year with an ACL injury, while Louis Walker returned after missing most of the 2025-26 season while travelling.

The opening exchanges showed that Basingstoke were a strong outfit who would give Ealing a stern test, and it was the visitors who took the lead after just 8 minutes, following a penalty conceded at a lineout. The penalty was taken short, and after a couple of phases a short pop pass from the scrum half was taken at pace by a forward to open the scoring with a try under the posts. It took just 3 minutes for 1871 to respond. Rhydderch-Roberts took two quick penalties, the second enabling Toby Holt to make hard yards down the right with flanker Cortellari finishing half-way out. With 24 minutes on the clock, 1871 took the lead with a fine counterattack and try. Basingstoke kicked a penalty deep into the Ealing 22, where wing Josh Steadman exploited the space afforded him to run 80 metres before finally being hauled down. The ball was quickly recycled and slick passing enabled centre Lewis Steadman to finish wide on the left. Six minutes later the visitors spilt the ball in the Ealing 22 metre area, and 1871 turned defence into attack with devastating effect through Josh Steadman and Harry Vidler, before Rhydderch-Roberts side-stepped his way over the try line, with Vidler converting to make the score 17-7. A satisfying first half ended with Josh Steadman scoring wide on the left after excellent handling along the back line. Vidler landed a fine conversion to leave Ealing 24-7 ahead at the interval.

Ealing became a little ragged after the break, with Basingstoke first reducing the deficit with a 90-metre run from a penalty under the posts and then finishing in the left-hand corner after a missed interception. Only 3 points now separated the teams, and the visitors were only prevented from taking the lead at the cost of a yellow card for Walker for a high tackle. The visitors’ penalty lineout was overthrown, and Ealing’s 14 men saw out the remaining 10 minutes.

Man of the match was Holt, followed closely by debutant Cortellari, while the Steadman brothers and Vidler impressed among the backs.

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