A dominant display built on rock-solid defence with power up front and sharpness in the back line saw Ealing Trailfinders 1871 through to victory by six tries to one in the first league encounter between these two traditional local rivals since 2001. The win marked 1871’s sixth consecutive victory since the solitary loss against Finchley back in mid-September.

Ealing had the upper hand in the early minutes and took the lead with a drop goal on 8 minutes by fly half Harry Vidler, who had plenty of time and space to bisect the posts thanks to the platform established by the forwards. With a quarter of the game played, Ruislip tried to use their mauling game to smash their way through on the Ealing 22 but were repelled and eventually lost possession, leading to a break down the left wing by wing Josh Steadman and a penalty for a despairing high tackle. From the ensuing line-out cleanly won in the middle, flanker Ben Thompson took the ball at pace and weaved his way to the try line, on this occasion sensibly opting not to finish with an extravagant dive. After a series of re-set scrums at which Ealing had their opponents under pressure and with few options, a wayward kick downfield was collected by Josh Steadman, who sped through the defence, drew the last defender and presented supporting No 8 Will Day with an easy run-in wide on the right, from where Vidler nailed the conversion to make the score 15-0. Soon afterwards Josh Steadman was on the score sheet himself, this time the recipient of a scoring pass from fellow wing Jack Hobbs after his team had benefited from an overthrown Ruislip lineout close to the Ealing try line with defence swiftly turned into attack and strong runs by centre Lewis Steadman and loosehead prop Leo Codrington-Lambert. Vidler added the extras, but just before the break was yellow-carded for a high tackle, necessitating a move to fly half by captain Lewis Steadman for the next 10 minutes of play.

With Vidler back on the field, the bonus point for a fourth try came 10 minutes after the re-start. Vidler spotted an opportunity for a cross-field kick towards the right wing after Ruislip had again kicked the ball away under pressure and weighted it perfectly for Hobbs to collect, feign to run in towards the posts and then accelerate the other way. Vidler added the conversion. Ruislip, who had hit a brick wall all evening whenever they tried to attack, finally found a way through to reduce the deficit, but the 1871 forwards increasingly imposed themselves as their superior fitness began to tell. A back-pedalling Ruislip pack illegally dropped an Ealing 5-metre scrum, leaving the referee with no option but to award a penalty try. Three minutes later replacement prop Tim Hitchcock finished an excellent move that stretched the visiting defence with a trademark short-range try under the posts.

Man of the match for a towering performance in the engine room, in the lineout and around the park was Reggie Elliot-Jones. Coach Phil Smith highlighted the fluidity that Ealing eventually brought into the game after some stop-start periods.

Ealing 1871 remain in a tight runaway group of four at the top of Counties 1 Herts & Middlesex League and have three more games in the first round of fixtures, against Hitchin on 16 November followed by Old Streetonians and Fullerians.