Ealing Trailfinders were 55-26 victors over Caldy on Saturday (28 December 2024), taking them 12 points clear at the top of The Championship.
Braces from Ben Harris and Angus Kernohan, along with tries from Simon Uzokwe, Mike Willemse, Will Montgomery, Reuben Bird-Tulloch and Rayn Smid, gave Trailfinders the full five points from the contest.
This result means Trailfinders stretch their lead at the top of The Championship to 12 points over 2nd placed Coventry after their loss to Nottingham.
Kernohan gave Trailfinders the perfect start, latching onto the end of a Francis Moore offload to go over in the corner.
Uzokwe was next to get over the line, this time from a classic pick-and-go, powering over the line with ease.
Then it seemed as if Caldy’s wheels were coming off. Willemse shot off the back of the rolling maul and crashed through the tacklers from short range.
Lewis Barker was then sent to the bin as he slapped the ball down, preventing a Kernohan breakaway.
Almost instantly, the North Irishman wrapped up his break on the end of a flowing Trailfinders set play.
The men in green continued to pile on the pressure. Prop Lefty Zigiriadis hit an unlikely 50-22, and Montgomery followed it up with a brutal carry to score.
That would end a perfect half for Trailfinders, who hoped the second would be more of the same.
Half-Time: Ealing Trailfinders 31-0 Caldy
Following the half-time message, Trailfinders scored straight away as Reuben Bird-Tulloch danced around a couple of Caldy tacklers to get over the line.
Having come on for David Bridge at half-time, Smid saw Yellow for a high tackle, and Trailfinders were down to 14 for the following 10 minutes.
There was then a huge momentum shift in favour of the visitors, who had been out of the contest for 50 minutes.
Ollie Hearn opened Caldy’s account immediately after the Yellow, followed quickly by a score from Paul Robinson.
Trailfinders then received two more yellow cards to Montgomery and Matas Jurevicius, the latter resulting in a penalty try and bringing the team down to 12.
As Smid returned to the field, Trailfinders managed to find some composure and slowed the pace of the game.
They managed to hold onto the ball for large parts of the next 10 and kept it in Caldy’s 22 to keep the pressure off.
Smid then stretched the Trailfinders’ lead with a try of his own.
Harris then capped off the game with a double in the space of six minutes, bringing Trailfinders over the half-century.
The result moves Trailfinders 12 points clear, playing Chinnor away from home after the bye week.
Emily Bunder from EALING.NEWS caught up with Trailfinders player, Bobby De Wee, after the game.
De Wee, who plays in the second row, said: “We’re just really thankful that we could close the year out in the manner that we did and give the supporters something to watch over the festive period. We’re pretty happy with the display of rugby we put on.”
He added: “I know it’s normally a time for family and so the boys really dug deep this week and leading up to this weekend, so really happy with this result.”
Full-Time: 55-26
Tries:
Trailfinders
Kernohan (2, 26), Uzokwe (16), Willemse (19), Montgomery (32), Bird-Tulloch (42), Smid (69), Harris (74, 79)
Caldy
Hearn (45), Robinson (50), Penalty (55), Maasai-White (71)
Conversions:
Trailfinders
Willis (16, 20, 33, 42), Worboys (75)
Caldy
Barker (45, 50)
Yellow Cards:
Trailfinders
Smid (44), Montgomery (53), Jurevicius (55)
