1871 return to winning ways with seven tries

After cruel defeat in their last outing against league leaders London Scottish Lions, Ealing Trailfinders 1871 earned a bonus-point victory at Kilburn, regularly exploiting opportunities to outscore their opponents by seven tries to one and collecting a league bonus point.

On a bright but cold and blustery February day, Ealing were pinned back in the early stages, playing into the teeth of the wind, and took 10 minutes to establish any possession in the Kilburn half. With a quarter of an hour gone, scrum half Etienne Kille made a clean break and fed centre Josh Steadman, who danced through the remaining defenders to finish under the posts, giving brother Lewis a straightforward conversion. Just one minute later, Lewis Steadman, on this occasion playing at fly half, pierced the Kilburn defence and delivered a well-timed pass to wing Kyle Beck, who finished wide on the left. Despite these two telling blows, Kilburn remained competitive and scored their first points of the afternoon with a penalty on 25 minutes. However, 1871 increased the gap a few minutes later when full back Ben Parkinson made a break, the ball was dislodged from this grasp but went backwards, prop Tim Hitchcock drove towards the line, and hooker Evan Poole was on hand to finish near the posts, with Lewis Steadman converting. A second well-struck penalty reduced the deficit to 19-6 at the break.

Four minutes into the second period, the ball was swung left along the back line, and the returning Stan Duhamel, playing on the wing, punched a hole to create space for Parkinson to finish off and earn the four-try bonus point. Despite having the benefit of the elements after half-time, Ealing did not have it all their own way, and after a period of pressure Kilburn scored a try from a short penalty. With a quarter of the game remaining, when Kilburn lost possession in their own half, Lewis Steadman kicked ahead and was on the point of picking up and scoring when he was tackled without the ball. Replacement wing Kavan Fitzpatrick was, however, up in support and fell on the ball as it crossed the line. With 5 minutes left, Ealing put a gloss on the score when No 8 and coach Tom Gamage, making a rare appearance on the field rather than the touchline, charged down an attempted clearance close to the home try line and flanker Ian Kilcoyne was on hand to touch down, with Steadman adding the extras. The final score of the day against a game but tiring Kilburn was scored by centre Luca Townshend.

Ealing 1871’s win moves them up to fourth in the table, equal on points with third-placed Saracens Amateurs, who face an away trip to London Scottish on 19 February, while 1871 travel to Bank of England.