Ealing Trailfinders 1871 emerged from a mighty battle with Old Haberdashers with a crucial 5-point win to stay just a point behind Finchley at the top of the table, but were pushed all the way by a skillful and determined opposition in a pulsating and dramatic game that was a credit to Level 7 rugby.

Habs gained a penalty from the kick off, moved steadily downfield and put Ealing on the back foot for several minutes. Pressure on the 1871 line eventually yielded a try on the right from a dominant maul. This early setback, with the try converted, was compounded by a yellow card for flanker Toby Holt with a quarter of an hour gone, and a second converted try two minutes later courtesy of an intercepted pass as Ealing tried to run out of defence. Undaunted by the 14-0 deficit, Ealing dominated territory and possession for a period, and were unfortunate to be held up on the line from a powerful driving maul. As the interval approached, Ealing were deprived of two key players, with captain Lewis Steadman, restored to the team after a torn hamstring, suffering a recurrence of a groin problem, and talismanic No 8 Dave Francis forced off by a cut on the head. However, from a clean line-out take close to the Habs line prop Tim Hitchcock forced his way over in a training-ground move in the left-hand corner. The conversion was missed, leaving Ealing 14-5 adrift at the break.

Buoyed by the try, Ealing came flying out of the blocks as the second half got underway with a tactical rethink and a high level of fitness build up in well-attended training sessions. Versatile replacement Carlos Duarte came on at wing, with Josh Steadman moving to centre to replace his brother. Soon after the restart 1871 scored a fine team try with most of the 15 involved following a powerful burst by Sevanaia Laqeretabua, playing on this occasion at second row. Darting runs by Josh Steadman and quick recycling eventually produced a gap which Holt exploited to bring the score to 14-12 with the conversion by Harry Vidler. Within four minutes 1871 took the lead. A long raking kick by Vidler forced a clearance kick to touch, wing Kyle Beck punched a big hole in the defence and irrepressible hooker Leo Codrington-Lambert finished close to the posts. Seven minutes later he was on the score sheet again with a superb 30-metre run to the line including a sidestep to beat the last tackler after more darting runs by Josh Steadman, who Habs later named as their Ealing man of the match. From a 0-14 deficit an excellent display of flowing rugby and determined tackling meant Ealing were well placed at 26-14 with the four-try bonus secured, but Habs were not finished. A harsh yellow card for Laqeretabua made for a tense last 15 minutes, particularly when Habs went over with a driven maul immediately afterwards. Ealing saw out the last 13 minutes with solid defence to end a fine game.

Leo Codrington-Lambert and centre George Emmerson, who made up for his intercepted pass with penetrating runs throughout the game, were named as joint man of the match, with special mentions for Hitchcock, the returning Gereint Price for excellent organisation and execution of the lineout, and Jack Feeney, who came off the bench for his first team debut at hooker.

After a week off for the England versus New Zealand game, 1871 take on Old Streetonians, who have made a strong start to the league campaign.