Ealing Men welcomed Old Redingensians to Vallis Way on Saturday having lost heavily in the away fixture early in December. Ealing enjoyed the better of the early forward exchanges whilst ORs appeared sharp when their backs were allowed to play with the ball. The stalemate was eventually broken with ORs scoring twice on 18 and 22 minutes. As the interval approached with Ealing clearly still in the game an OR kick-chase ended with a slightly harsh ‘side entry’ penalty awarded to the visitors on the Ealing 5 metre line. Having been regularly shunted around by the Ealing pack OR bravely opted for the scrum despite having a flanker off the field being treated by the physio. The 7-man OR pack was unsurprisingly driven back and round only for the official to interpret such as a deliberate act by Ealing, and from the resulting penalty ORs crashed over for a cruelly timed score in the last action of the first half.

ORs started the second half with more urgency and their precision out wide proved to be the difference between the two sides as they secured a try-bonus point in the 53rd minute. The home side never let their heads drop, though, and on the hour a loose ball at the front of the lineout was seized upon by loose-head Zaki Chamnaoui who galloped a full 22m down the tram lines to open Ealing’s account with a fine individual try in the corner. Enjoying the better of the bounce of the ball ORs extended their lead on 70 and 78 minutes before replacement Tim Hitchcock made it a good day for the Ealing front row with a consolation score on last play. Will Day’s efforts on the day, half in the back row and half at hooker, are worthy of particular mention as the youngster put in another outstanding performance.

ORs left their kicking boots at home failing to convert any of their six tries but ran out worthy 30-12 winners but Ealing can look forward to the remainder of ‘Massive March’ having shown glimpses of what the team is capable of delivering in the last two weekends.