Ealing Trailfinders rallied in the second half and pushed visitors Cross Keys hard for the last 20 minutes of their second British and Irish Cup match as they chased a losing bonus point.
Jack Pattinson was named STORM Watches man of the match, while there was also a welcome return from injury for winger Owen Bruynseels, who played 50 minutes.
After an opening period in which Keys ran in three tries from Dan Hodge, Tom Lampard and Ieuan Jones, Ealing hit back before half-time with a try through Andrew Henderson.
The pack picked and drove at the Keys defence for a number of phases and when captain for the day Ben Ward moved the ball wide Ronnie McLean broke the Welsh defence and popped a pass up to Henderson for the fullback to scoot over the line.
After half-time both teams pushed each other hard as they sought to make the initial breakthrough in the second period. Eventually it was the visitors who did so when Lampard went over for his second.
With a number of substitutions on both sides Ealing began to take the match to Cross Keys and Henderson, wing Billy Robinson and substitute Phil Chesters all managed to put their defence under pressure with counter-attacks.
Finally it was Robinson who made the breakthrough. After a counter-attack down Chesters’ wing, Jack Pattinson and Ed Siggery punched holes in the Keys’ defence and Ward popped a pass into Robinson’s hand and the wing raced away to dive over in the corner.
Soon after Sam Hocking closed the deficit to nine points and gave the team a sniff of a bonus point. Again the attack started down the left and when the ball moved right Number 8 Hocking popped up on Ward’s shoulder to complete the move.
With the chance of a bonus point Ealing continued to throw themselves at the Cross Keys’ line, but were unable to find a way through. In the end a highly relieved Cross Keys side were happy to kick the ball to touch as they made it two wins from their opening two matches in the competition.
Ealing Trailfinders
Andrew Henderson; Owen Bruynseels, Ronnie Mclean, Tom Wheatcroft, Billy Robinson; Ben Ward, Stuart Commins; Ryan Storer, Sam Wilkes, Tim Brockett; Steve Pape, Ed Siggery; Anders Nilsson, Jack Pattinson, Sam Hocking
Reserves
Jordan Saunders, Camilo Parilli-Ocampo, Conor Carey, Joe McVey; Morgan Thompson, Chris Kinloch, Phil Chesters
Cross Keys
Rhys Jones; Luke Williams, Tyler Morgan, Leon Andrews (c), James Cordy-Redden; Steffan Jones, Rhys Dyer; Aaron Coundley, Gerwyn Price, Nathan Buck; Danny Hodge, Tom Lampard; Ieuan Jones, Scott Matthews, Adam Powell
Reserves
Darren Hughes, Anthony Lott, Anthony Cornock, Ollie Hodge, Nathan Wiliams, Nathan Trowbridge, Ryan James
Referee – Sean Gallagher
Attendance – 391
