Ealing Trailfinders Academy U20 24-22 Moseley Academy U20
The second game in our 3 game block saw fellow Championship Academy Moseley visit Vallis Way with an U20 side, greeted by unseasonably fine weather for the week before Christmas.
Ealing started with the better of the possession, played some expansive rugby with real intent and deservedly took the lead, a scrum feed taken against the head allowed impressive No8 Marcus Lowe to carry from the base of the scrum, ride one tackle and link up with scrum half Josh Steadman who sprinted in under the posts.
Possession swung to Moseley which became a theme of the game and they were next to score with a well struck penalty.
Patient approach work saw the Ealing pack gain a line out on the Moseley 5m line, this time it was Ealing’s turn to show their power and Lowe scored from short range
A converted try at the foot of the posts from some strong pick and go’s saw the Birmingham based side within 2 points and in the ascendancy, however a mistake from the restart saw skipper Lowe regain possession again and off load to Hooker Will Day to run in, converted again by Luk. The half drew to a close with a father score by Moseley bringing it back to a 2 point game, 19-17.
The second half was a tense affair, 2 evenly matched sides, cancelling each other out, we became to predictable in attack, making ourselves easy to defend against and ignoring our pace out wide. Moseley enjoyed long periods of territorial dominance but resolute defending kept them at bay, the last 7 minutes raised the pulse of all watching…
Flanker and Man of the Match Tyler Bush pounced on a loose Moseley pass and ran in from his own half showing great pace and power to finish, the missed conversion meant there wasn’t clear space between the sides and as had been the case all day Moseley to their credit attacked with purpose and scored but the Ealing defenders had pushed the opportunity out wide and made the conversion a tough one, it wasn’t to be for Moseley and the kick for extras fell short.
A nervy two minutes remained but despite a few heart attacks the clock ran out and Ealing were the winners.
Congratulations to our fine guests Moseley, really good company and a credit to their Club!
Next up are Nottingham away on January at Ladybanks, another early kick off as we open proceedings for another Championship fixture. Thanks to Ben Ward for making the home fixture possible, it means a lot to the boys to play before the 1st XV.
Finally a huge thank you to our match day sponsor, Mark at MH Construction Services Ltd, very much appreciated mate!!!
Ealing Trailfinders Academy
Steadman L, Saamms, Hitchcock C, Townshend, Walker, Luk, Steadman J, Lowe, Bush, Batt, Martin, Wake, Vosabalavu, Day, Hitchcock T
Replacements
Ajuchi, Joyce, Young, Osuntoki, Avis O, Segre, Nolan-Hutchinson, McCausland-Swan, Vogt, Joseph
Scorers
Tries – Steadman J, Lowe, Day, Bush
Cons – Luk 2
