Army Academy Dev U23 v Ealing Trailfinders Academy U20 won 22 – 19
Saturday saw the Academy U20 take on their second services opponents of the season when we travelled to the Army Rugby Stadium in Aldershot. A late change due to operational commitments saw the Army field a number of U23 development players, a tough day just got tougher!
For the second season running the young Trailfinders lifted their game, the mix of Championship and Development squad players joining with the Academy regulars and last years Prop and now Senior Ams player Tom Syszco made this a real One Club affair.
Strong play from all quarters saw Ealing on the front foot for long periods, well executed play belied the fact the team had not trained together, some over enthusiastic offloading maybe showed the inexperience of some of our players but the ambition and confidence to try things was great to see.
It was from one such attack that 17 year olds Marcus Lowe and Louis Walker combined down the right flank to score the first try of the day.Celyn Beynon added the second try after some great continuity, scrum half Chico U’Chong serving the back line with a stream of ball, and Beynon broke the line and finished superbly. A Dalton-Buller penalty concluded the scoring and the half drew to a close with Trailfinders leading 13-7.
The Army came out for the second half with renewed vigour, a fine individual display from their Fijian centre leading the way, Ealing built on their lead with two penalties from Aaron Dalton-Buller, but we had to dig really deep after conceding 2 tries making the scores all square at 19-19.
Showing maturity beyond their years the Academy worked the ball well to gain field position and draw a penalty from the Army, a quick tap and feed to prop turned hooker Zaki Chamnaoui, cruelly a dangerous tackle from the Army skipper saw both players leave the field, one yellow and one on a stretcher! From the penalty Dalton-Buller kept his nerve to convert and make the score 22-19 to Ealing Trailfinders.
A massive win for the Academy and another great chance to show our thanks and support for our armed forces.
Ealing Trailfinders Academy
Dalton-Buller, Walker, Beynon, Boreman, Woodruffe, Luk, U’Chong, Lowe, Ajayi, Bush, McVey, Salustri, Syszco, Chamnaoui, Tadeischi
Replacements
Wilmot, Avis, Doherty, Day, Samms, Asante, Kirwan,
Scorers
Tries – Beynon, Walker
Penalties – Dalton-Buller 4
