While the Ealing Trailfinders professionals were scoring 101 points against London Scottish at Vallis Way, 1871 were having a much difficult time of it against the Scots' amateur team the Lions, and despite battling hard were comfortably outscored in their second consecutive defeat in the highly competitive Herts and Middlesex League 1.

On a fine autumn day, the opening quarter of the game failed to produce a score, with both teams battling for ascendancy up front, until Ealing ran out of defenders out on the right wing for an unconverted try. With Scottish losing their inside centre to a yellow card soon afterwards, 1871 went onto the attack, and a fine break by returning French centre Stan Duhamel was stopped only at the cost of a penalty. Loose-head prop Tim Hitchcock took a quick tap and and barged over the line before the Lions could marshal their defence. Ealing then had the chance to take the lead when awarded another penalty in a kickable position but opted for a scrum, which failed to create the hoped-for opening, and with the break approaching the Lions launched a sustained attack finished off by their No 4 under the posts, with the conversion added. Soon afterwards Ealing found themselves having to defend their try line, and a penalty for offside in an attempted interception by Duhamel was converted to leave the half-time score at 15-5.

Ealing needed to reduce the deficit quickly in the second period, but the Scots maintained their momentum from the end of the first half and found space on the left wing for a third try following a powerful run by their impressive open-side flanker, converted from a tight angle, and took the game away from 1871 with a fourth try on 50 minutes, again well convertedfrom close to the touch line. Ealing finally managed to stem the tide and reduced the deficit through Duhamel wide on the left, with a fine conversion by fly half Harrison Slater. Any thoughts that the remaining 17 point difference could be overcome were quashed with another try involving the No 7 and the left wing, before scrum half Josh Steadman added to his try tally for the season, with another excellent conversion by Slater. With the end of the contest approaching, the Scots kicked another 3 points to make sure of victory, before full back Lewis Steadman finished under the posts to give his team a league bonus point for four tries.

After the game, captain Liam McDonagh praised his team for a valiant effort over 80 minutes which could have produced a better result were it not for a couple of soft tries. With league games coming thick and fast, 1871 have a chance to return to winning ways on 6 November against Kilburn Cosmos.