Ealing Trailfinders 13-14 Leinster A - B&I Cup
Phil Chesters’ injury-time try came too late to save spirited Ealing from defeat to Leinster A at Vallis Way last night.
The winger’s last gasp dash proved to be the last action of an excellent match in which Mike Cudmore’s Trailfinders pushed the Irish group winners to the limit, providing further evidence of their vast improvement in recent week.
As dress rehearsals for next week’s crunch relegation scrap with Molesey go, this was ideal as led superbly by hooker Andrei Radoi and the rest of his front row the hosts emerged with enormous credit from a brutal forward scrap on a rain-sodden pitch.
Head Coach Cudmore made 10 changes from last weekend’s defeat at Cross Keys to give his side best preparation for the upcoming trip to South Birmingham, yet Trailfinders made the worst possible start as Leinster kicked off and immediately secured turnover ball.
Noel Reid’s initial surge was resisted, but the ball was recycled and though Sam Coughlan-Murray was bundled into touch he managed to offload to Andrew Henderson to touch down in the corner.
The conversion was missed to the left, but Trailfinders were 5-0 in arrears with less than two minutes on the clock.
Possession was lost again from the restart and the kick through was scrambled into touch with Hudson bearing down once more.
The resulting lineout drive was held up over the line and though the 5-yard scrum yielded a succession of penalties – taken as scrums by the cup holders - Leinster were eventually penalised for a crooked throw at the lineout, allowing Ben Ward to clear.
Leinster continued to dominate possession in the first quarter, but having got over the initial onslaught the hosts’ defence was more secure with the scrum in particular very solid.
Midway through the half Stuart Commins excellent touch kick gave Trailfinders their first attacking possession, but the forward drive was resisted and came to nothing.
However, two minutes later Leinster were caught offside in defence allowing Ward’s kick to cut the deficit to two points.
Cathal Marsh soon stretched the lead once more with the simplest of kicks following an infringement at a ruck, but Cudmore’s side were well in the game now with the forwards proving strong in the maul and Adam Preocanin stealing a lineout against the throw.
Commins’ box kicks were also causing trouble for Leinster as they struggled to gain a grip on the greasy ball in the swirling wind and reward came five minutes from the break as a second Ward penalty made it 8-6.
Home pressure at the start of the second half saw Leinster show their defensive strength, the visitors managing to clear before going on to threaten the Trailfinders’ line once more.
Seven minutes in came a worrying moment as Commins took a blow to the head while stoically defending his own line. He rose unsteadily to his feet after treatment and with the medical team taking no chances Thomas Parker came on in his place to face the five-yard scrum resisted by some great scramble defence.
A scrum was won against the head as the hosts grew in confidence, though they were not making much progress going forward against the wall of green shirts in front of them.
With the ball getting wetter and minds more tired, mistakes were made on both sides, but more stoic home defence was required as Leinster kept territorial advantage.
Samuel Wilkes replaced Radoi with 12 minutes to play and immediately a scrum was lost against the head. Superb scramble defence again held Leinster out only for a penalty to be conceded from the eventual clearance kick.
Marsh’s kick was straight and true making it 11-6 with nine minutes left.
The hosts were tiring and almost undone by another forward surge, but yet again great defence forced the error.
However, they were penalised from their own put in to the scrum, giving Marsh the chance to seal victory from the right of the posts.
A late kick through by Ward was pulled back for offside, but there was reward for the hosts with the last play of the game when Ward’s chip kick was gathered by Henderson who surged through the middle before kicking into space for Chesters to win the race to the corner for the try.
Ward kicked the extras before the whistle blew. Beaten they may have been, but the overwhelming feeling was this was another huge step forward for Cudmore’s men.
