Ealing take honours in ‘crazy game’

FORWARDS coach Glen Townson reckoned he would have taken a one-bonus-point win for Ealing Trailfinders against Jersey Bulls before the game, even though he could not have anticipated it would come via a 52-38 win in the Championship.

In what one observer described as “a crazy game” when the hosts led 33-0 at half-time only to be pegged back in the second half, Townson said the first-half performance was “probably the best in the three years

I have been here” but he recognised that the second-half was poor and “took us back to where we were last week against Cornish Pirates”.

That opening day defeat in Cornwall stung Trailfinders but they certainly bounced back with a bang.

“There are plenty of things to fix but at least we have five points on the board now,” said Townson.

“The game management was superb in the first half. We were playing in the right areas and we had great balance.

“In the first half we converted nearly every chance we had in the final 22. The scrum was fantastic in the first half too and it put us in the right positions on the field. That first 40 minutes showed what we are all about.

“Obviously there are also a few areas we need to fix pretty quick.

“We made poor decisions in the second half and there were a couple of kicks where we thought ‘do we really need to do that?’

“Credit to Jersey as well. They were chasing the game and running from everywhere.

“We didn’t deal with that particularly well. We have to realise we aren’t always going to have momentum and we have to learn how to wrestle that back.

“That’s the learning we take from this game.

“We have a big challenge now at Bedford and we’ve already been there once so we know what a threat they pose at home.”

Prop Elliot Millar Mills was pleased to get the crucial win after being named man of the match. His relentless display in the front row helped pressure in the opening 40 minutes be converted in to points.

“We put a lot of pressure on them and built from that,” he said. “It was a case of everyone doing their job and the simple things really came together.

“The consistency gave us constant front-foot ball but after the second half we know that we need to get much better for Bedford.”