A long coach journey to the Suffolk coast proved worthwhile as Ealing Trailfinders 1871 came away with a comfortable win to advance to the semi-finals of the Papa Johns Cup Counties 1 South Plate.

Leaving behind warm and sunny conditions in London, the squad arrived to find cloud and a stiff breeze on a dry sandy grass pitch. Ealing won the toss and elected to play against the elements in the first half at the scenically attractive ground on Southwold Common with views to be enjoyed during the quieter moments of the game of the lighthouse, the sea, Sizewell B in the distance, the harbour and across the mouth of the River Blyth to Walberswick.  Ealing gave 1st team debuts to Dave Francis, playing at inside centre, young scrum halves Callum MacGregor and Stan Ridout, and full back Joe Blakemore.

With the wind behind them and with a heavy pack, Southwold secured plentiful territory in the opening exchanges, but found the well-drilled Ealing defence impenetrable, and a fine break by Josh Steadman at 13 took play into the home team’s half. Despite the early loss of MacGregor, replaced by Ridout, the visitors began to impose themselves and deny Southwold the possession they needed to take play downfield, and it was Ealing who opened the scoring when Reggie Elliot-Jones, making a welcome return after several weeks out with a muscle injury, burst clear to open the scoring after quick ruck ball and crucial breaks by Josh Steadman and Dave Francis. Harry Vidler converted from in front of the posts. The Suffolk side, who finished a solid third in Counties 1 Eastern Counties and had scored 102 points away at Burnham-on-Crouch in a previous round, hit back with 16 minutes gone with a miss move in the centre to  tie the scores. The re-start kick by Harry Vidler, captain for the day in the absence of Lewis Steadman, went straight into touch, but from the ensuing scrum the Southwold No 8 threw a wild pass, which was seized upon by Francis, who hacked on and finished to the right of the posts, from where Vidler converted. Just 3 minutes later Vidler was on the scoresheet again with a penalty to move his team two scores ahead. However, Southwold reduced the gap with another try from a miss move in midfield from clean lineout possession. The two-score advantage was restored just before the beak when Blakemore ran strongly out of defence, a penalty was awarded for a high tackle and taken quickly, and Steadman fed Louis Aitcheson-Walker on the right wing.

Ealing turned around with the benefit of the elements and a healthy 22-14 lead and proceeded to play impressive attacking rugby and score another three tries, all converted. Nine minutes into the second half Vidler kicked a penalty to touch deep inside the Southwold 22 metre area. Prop Akeem Eubank-Anderson collected at the back of the lineout, and after a couple of driven mauls Elliot-Jones peeled off to notch his second score of the day, converted by Vidler. The home defence held out for long periods but with a few minutes remaining Southwold lost possession running a penalty out of defence, and Francis picked up the loose ball and sped away to finish beneath the posts.

In the last of 10 minutes added on due to a number of injuries, notably an unpleasant-looking shoulder dislocation to the Southwold left wing, Vidler chipped over the head of the last defender and won the race to the ball, the well-placed referee satisfied that he applied downward pressure on the ball before it bounced away. Vidler added the extras for a personal tally of six conversions, a penalty and a try.

Man of the match for an effervescent display of smart angled runs and exploitation of gaps was Josh Steadman, while all 22 squad members contributed to an excellent win that takes 1871 through to a considerably closer away trip to Weybridge Vandals. A win on Saturday 10 May would mean another long journey to a cup final at the Dings Crusaders ground in Bristol.

Coach Phil Smith was pleased with what was ultimately a comfortable win, and was particularly impressed by the tackling technique shown by his team.