Ealing keep their heads to take down brave Scots
EALING Trailfinders managed to stifle a strong second half resurgence to maintain their 10-point lead at the top of the table.
Ealing hit 50 with tries from eight different scorers – Matt Cornish, Jordan Holgate, Bobby De Wee, Craig Willis, Biyi Alo, Jonah Holmes, Ollie Newman and Reuben Bird-Tulloch.
Cornish opened the scoring on three minutes, dotting down off the back of a rolling maul. Trailfinders extended their lead nine minutes later as the debutant Holgate cruised in to score under the posts.
The early first half onslaught continued through De Wee, who used his large frame to crash over after successive phases inside Scottish’s 22.
Just when it was looking to be a drubbing for the away side, scrum-half Dan Nutton hit back with a well-worked team try to score under the posts.
The action continued at a frantic pace, with Trailfinders then scoring again through Willis, as he saw a gap in the Scottish line and darted his way over.
London Scottish came out raring to go in the second half and struck with two quickfire tries within five minutes.
Fly-half Harry Sheppard scored and converted his own try, with Nutton scoring his second of the day two minutes later.
A disconcerted Trailfinders side steadied themselves as they know best, with Alo scoring off the rolling maul after repeated
Scottish penalties. Sustaining this momentum, they extended the lead through Holmes after a well-worked move down the right flank, as he shrugged off the last man to score under the posts.
Scottish would just not lie down however, scoring through Will Brown and Bryn Bradley as they continued to exploit holes in the Trailfinders line, reducing the deficit to just three points.
It wasn’t enough however, as the home side crushed the Scottish resistance with two unanswered tries through Newman and Bird-Tulloch, leaving the final score 52-35.
Trailfinders director of rugby Ben Ward said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the five points but must give a lot of credit to London Scottish for their perseverance.”