Ealing Trailfinders are still looking for their first point of the season after suffering a sixth straight Championship defeat.

A Friday night home fixture against the team directly above them at the foot of the table seemed an open invitation to get their season up and running.

But despite dominating the second half, they rarely troubled the Moseley try-line and failed to cross the whitewash.

Conceding a second try right at the start of the second half did much of the damage – raising the anxiety levels for Mike Cudmore's men as they desperately looked to end their torrid spell and give a crowd of 700 something to cheer.

On reflection, a few of the early pointers seemed none too encouraging. Centre Ronnie McLean-Dents was held up in traffic on his way to the Trailfinders ground and only just made kick-off.

Then, with the game barely two minutes old, Ben Ward was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on in breaking up a Moseley attack.

But having been punished for that indiscretion with a William Hooley penalty, Ealing drew level with a Thomas Wheatcroft three-pointer before Ward returned, so the damage was non-existent.

Yet Moseley had the territorial edge and it needed some stout Trailfinders defending to deny the visitors a try they pushed for from scrums after passing up the chance to kick two close range penalties.

The dam could not hold out forever, though and eventually, second row Oliver Robinson fed scrum-half Sam Brown for an easy scamper to the line. Hooley converted.

Ealing's best moment of the half followed a minute later when a scintillating break by the backs ended with Billy Robinson kicking ahead and chasing – but just being beaten to the touch.

Buoyed by their first near-miss, Ealing applied more pressure and worked some decent phases – enough for Wheatcroft to land his second penalty for the evening and it was 10-6 Moseley at the break.

With a decent foundation laid, the last thing Ealing wanted was a sloppy start to the second half, but they were found wanting when Cory Hill burst through some tame tackling in midfield after collecting an up and under and the ball was offloaded to centre Greg King for another Moseley try.

Even with the conversion missed, that was nine points to make up. And even with a whole half remaining, it did not take long for the pressure to build on the home side as they fought desperately to get back in the match. Pressure from waves of attacks kept promising a way back but the clock ticked on mercilessly.

Eventually, it became a battle just to claim a losing bonus point rather than find a way of winning a match they must have earmarked as a potential maiden win in the Championship.