Ealing Trailfinders 1st XV recover from a 17-10 half-time deficit to record a 32-17 bonus-point win over Richmond in their opening league game of the season.
Full back Pete Hodgkinson gave Ealing the early advantage, knocking over a penalty as Ealing dominated the opening few minutes.
Despite their overwhelming possession, Ealing conceded a try when Richmond collected a loose ball that came out of the ruck and Luke Cousins collected the ball to score. Matt Hart converted for the home side.
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| Phil Chesters scored two tries |
Richmond’s lead was short lived. Within three minutes, Ealing scored from a well taken scrum move after creating an overlap for Phil Chesters to cross for Ealing’s first try and Hodgkinson added the extras.
The pendulum then swung in Richmond’s favour as the hosts enjoyed a sustained period of pressure. The home forward pack pounded away with a serious of drives and mauls, eventually forcing a penalty that saw second row Ryan Gregory shown a yellow card.
A man short, Ealing could not hold out forever and Joe Brown and Cousins combined to set up a try for Brown that Hart converted for a 14-10 lead.
Hart added a penalty before half time to extend Richmond’s lead as they continued to pressure the 14 men of Ealing.
The second half was all Ealing as Richmond failed to cope with Ealing’s increased pace and tempo.
But the home side held on for almost 20 minutes before conceding the first points of the half after a number of penalty chances went begging for Ealing.
The dam had to break eventually and when the ball went loose as Richmond showed too much adventure in their own 22, Hodgkinson was on hand to run in a simple try, which he converted to level the scores at 17-17.
Richmond hit the self-destruct button again a few minutes later, droppoing the ball inside the Ealing half, which was hacked on and Chesters collected the favourable bounce to scamper 50 meteres to score and Ben Ward added the conversion.
Captain Jay King added the fourth try as they capitalised on further Richmond errors through good Ealing defensive pressure and Ward kicked a penalty to round off the win.
Also see Jay King’s Captain’s Blog.
| Richmond 17 | Trailfinders 1st XV 32 | ||
| Tries: | Cousins, Brown | Tries: | Chesters (2), Hodgkinson, King |
| Cons: | Hart (2) | Cons: | Hodgkinson (2), Ward |
| Pens: | Hart | Pens: | Hodgkinson, Ward |
| Drops: | Drops: | ||
