Ealing Men’s 1sts were knocked out of the Middlesex Cup at the semi-final stage, conceding seven tries to a dominant Chiswick, who currently sit third in London 2 North West.

Chiswick attacked from the first whistle, but were held at bay by resolute defence, although they went on to open their account with a barnstorming run by the No 5 after Ealing had failed to find touch with a relieving penalty. The visitors finally managed to put string some phases of play together, leading to the award of a penalty from which fly half Harry Vidler reduced the gap to 5-3. Chiswick turned their increasing pressure into points with a try on the left wing after Ealing had held up a driven maul on their line. The visitors nearly pulled back to within 2 points soon afterwards following a break by centre Afzaal Mir, but the final pass went astray with the last Chiswick defender beaten. A well-struck penalty by Vidler from nearly 40 metres did, however, reduce the gap. A third Chiswick try was gifted by an Ealing knock-on before the home team were reduced to 14 men by a yellow card for some ill-judged remarks after the award of a penalty. The numerical advantage was unfortunately offset by a mounting injury toll, and Chiswick put the game more or less beyond doubt with a fourth score before the break.

As the second period got under way Chiswick began to dominate the scrums and notched another try following a penalty awarded at an Ealing scrum. With a quarter of the game to go the hosts scored the best try of the game with a well-worked overlap and strong finish and further extended their lead 10 minutes later. The visitors finished strongly in a long-lost cause but failed to achieve any penetration as they probed the defence. However, No 8 James Wilson intercepted a stray pass to finish under the posts for a try converted by replacement fly half Ciaran Joyner to give the scoreline a more respectable look.

Ealing man of the match was Matt Donnelly, playing out of position in the 2nd row on his return after injury.

This Saturday, 26 January, the Men’s 1st return to Zoo Shield for a mid-table clash away to Old Albanian.