Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Academy record first win over Bedford Blues

Ealing Trailfinders Academy U20 22-12 Bedford Blues Academy U19

A fine performance by the Academy saw our first victory in 3 seasons over Bedford Blues Academy at Vallis Way.

Bedford started much the brighter of the two sides, dominating the early exchanges enjoying both territory and possession. The pressure told with a try for the Blues.
Ealing responded well, scrum half Josh Steadman caused the Bedford defence headaches all day with his pace and great feet and a fine solo effort from 20m got the home side on the score board, U17 Junior Academy and Emerging Player Group player Devon Smith in only his second game for the Senior Academy added another, neither try was converted.

Josh Steadman, Ealing Trailfinders Academy U18

Bedford were not going to be out done and came right back and finished the half in the ascendancy, again pressure telling and a converted try saw them go into the break 2 points ahead at 12-10.

There was a feeling of having seen this before among the group, much the same thing had happened in our previous outing away at Moseley. Fortunately the second half performance was again much improved.

Skipper Marcus Lowe led superbly throughout the game, his example inspiring big games from lock Lewis Ellingham and Hooker Alex March.

The first score of the second half came wide out on the right, Nyall Wake finishing off from close range. For the second game on the trot a pair of brothers got on the scoresheet this time Lewis Steadman joined baby brother Josh with 5 points to his name, tracking a mazy run from his brother, taking a lovely pop and sprinting in under the sticks allowing Calum Nolan-Hutchinson to convert.

This represented a huge achievement for our group, many of whom have been involved in some tough lessons handed out by the ever impressive Blues Academy.

Unfortunately the day was dampened with a couple of nasty looking head injuries to Bedford players and we wish both lads the speediest of recoveries and hope to see them next month at Goldington Road.

Ealing Trailfinders Academy

Hodson, Samms, Steadman L, Day, Joseph, Nolan-Hutchinson, Steadman J, Lowe, Smith, Batt, Ellingham, Wake, Vosabalavu, March, Joyce

Replacements

Barton, Retter, Osuntoki, West, Luk, Vogt, Walker

Scorers

Tries – Steadman J, Smith, Wake, Steadman L

Cons – Nolan-Hutchinson

Community Schools programme grows

It is with great pride that we can announce that the Ealing Trailfinders Community Schools programme has added a further two schools to our local partnerships.
Cardinal Wiseman School and the newly opened William Perkin School, both in Greenford join Hanwell based Drayton Manor and Elthorne Park School along with North Ealing Primary School in receiving specialist rugby coaching from the Academy coaching team.

John Lacey said “Working with Cardinal Wiseman and William Perkin is a great opportunity to increase the player base at the club, being involved in taking rugby to local state schools is an important part of our clubs ongoing development. The Academy coaching team are really excited about the prospect of working with our new partners and hope to offer a new experience to the students”

Evergreens 27-24 Old Paulines

“Cavalry is useful before, during and after the battle,” wrote Napoleon, and he stressed the need for audacity in its employment and careful training to achieve true discipline. This 19th Century adage as true today as when the little fellow penned it all those centuries ago.

OPs had suffered on the Friday evening journey and arrived a little disarrayed. However, the game started with us going 17-0 down; two converted tries (first-up tackles gents) and a neat drop goal from the OP’s 10. Despite being a little shell shocked we rallied and realised we needed to keep the ball in the forwards a bit more to create space for the gasmen on display – Whitehead and Thompson. To this end the appearance of cavalry #1 in the form of minis Dad Serge Betsen aided and abetted our recovery, not only by his try scoring, but of course his defence was outstanding; tackling then stripping the ball on a number of occasions – 17-10 at halftime. However, highlight of the first half was a covering tackle on the jinky OPs number 9 by a rampant Rahim Virani, undoubtedly saving a try.

After a focused halftime huddle with a few encouraging comments from the manager, as well as a group determination to push on from that second quarter performance we struck back immediately with 17 unanswered points, including a very non Chris Rob”un”shaw decision by stand-in chief Green to kick a penalty where a line out in the corner could have been taken. Defence can win games too though as exemplified by MOM Steve Nethercote, returning to the pitch to win valuable line out ball despite having sustained a dead leg. History reports that Bonaparte fled before Austrian cavalry by climbing over a wall and lost his boot in the process. Flying in late (plane not tackle) it was Beck’s leading of the line (another try) and personal defensive display that made him the very incarnation of that kind of Habsburg cavalryman.

Although our tiring in the final 10 minutes allowed their scrumhalf to sneak through again, despite a monster cover tackle from Mark Rutherford, to assist a converted try we managed to close out the final 4 minutes with some controlled forward play & occasional moment of panic…full time 27-24 to us…just need our skipper to be available for the next two games so we do not rely on late appearing men on horses. We are in a good league position now and have had a great run of performances (7 & 4 for the season so far) with two to go, so step up for this Friday versus ‘Quins then 9th April for Heavies.

Moseley double for Academy

Moseley Academy 14-44 Ealing Trailfinders Academy

The Academy travelled to Billesley Common for the return fixture against fellow GK Championship outfit Moseley having edged them out in the corresponding fixture at Vallis Way.

The game started brightly in good conditions with Ealing having much of the territory and possession despite attacking up a big hill and against a strong wind. The pressure paid off with a try each for brothers Tim and Chris Hitchcock, significantly neither were converted and when Moseley turned on their power game they responded with two converted tries, going in at half time four points up.

With the hill and wind, things pointed to an Ealing resurgence but the manner of the performance surprised even the most fervent Ealing faithful.

A penalty from Fly Half Callum Nolan-Hutchinson settled some nerves and a fantastic solo effort from U17 winger Reon Joseph ignited the team. Play was spread quickly either side of the breakdown with some great decisions being made. Scrum half Josh Steadman was his lively self, showing great pace and feet and getting a pair of tries.

The pace at which the young Trailfinders played the game was too much on the day for Moseley and further tries for Ellis McCausland-Swan and Louis Walker finished off a great performance.

A perfect result going into our next game against Bedford Blues Academy, with Emerging Player Group members Devon Smith, Reon Joseph and Ben Retter all going well in the older age group.

Still some areas to work on most notably our set piece but no ignoring our attacking play was very good.

Ealing Trailfinders Academy

Hodson, Samms, Hitchcock C, Townshend, Walker, Nolan-Hutchinson, Steadman, Lowe, Batt, Smith, Ellingham, Wake, Vosabalvu, Joyce, Hitchcock T

Replacements
Retter, McCausland-Swan, Joseph

Scorers

Tries – Hitchcock T, Hitchcock C, Joseph, Steadmann J (2), McCausland-Swan, Walker
Cons – Nolan-Hutchinson (3)
Pens – Nolan-Hutchinson

Academy welcome Bedford Blues Academy to Vallis Way

The Academy welcome Bedford Blues Academy to Vallis Way tomorrow, kick off is at 13:00.

For the second week running we play the reverse fixture of the 1st XV and hope Ben and all the squad have a great day up at Bedford.

After last weeks performance against fellow Championship side Moseley, the boys will be looking to follow that up this week against the perpetually strong Blues Academy. Last season saw Ealing in front at half time but slipping to defeat in the second half.

The coaches have added 4 more Emerging Player Group members to the Senior Academy squad for this week, we’re sure it will be a challenging day for them but are confident they will take the step up in their stride.

It would be great to see anyone who can’t make the trip to Goldington Road down at the club to cheer us on.

A big thank you goes out to Nigel Miles, our match day sponsors NDM (metal roofing and cladding) Ltd.

Evergreens 17 – 7 Guildford Vets

On a wet, blustery and muddy afternoon more reminiscent of Flanders Fields than Vallis Way, the Evergreens shocked title contenders Guildford, conquerors of Richmond and Barnes already this season, in a tight, physical contest. Better prepared for the start (who said the Saturday traffic was a nightmare? Not us.) the Evergreens turned early pressure into a slender early 3-0 lead after an easily slotted penalty by Eddie Beck. However, the loss of their talismatic captainJJake after a blow to the knee was noticeable in the reduction in clean, quick ball from rucks and a big reduction in lineout ball. But fortune certainly favours the brave and Eddie picked up another seven points to his personal scoring tally with a well-read scoop up of a Guildford fumble after a scrum, scoring under the posts and converting. Although 10-0 at halftime, Evergreens knew that Guildford would regroup, brush away the cobwebs of their M25 march into the battlefield and prepare to go over the top for a full-on forward-led assault.

The second half was all trench warfare for Evergreens. With the wind in their favour and some well-executed kicking from the rising penalty count (on both sides) from the Guildford 10, Evergreens were pinned into the top left corner for 20 minutes. Guildford dominated the scrum all match and demonstrated this after their sustained pressure with a textbook pushover scrum that was converted. At 10-7 the match could have gone either way with another pitched battle on the Evergreens line interspersed with penalties and the occasional Guildford yellow card, but Guildford were unable to convert pressure into points. Displaying calm in the smoke of the battle, Field Marshall BOF made some substitutions that finally outflanked the opposition. Tristan, who had box kicked us out of trouble on numerous occasions, made way for Ricky at 9, dusting off his former international skills to put in a clever kick, giving us much-needed breathing space. Well-won scrappy opposition lineout ball from an ungloved Declan Cronin, rucked over by the indefatigable MoM Steve Richards and a rejuvenated Jake, allowed Ricky to punt us behind the enemy gain line into the opposition half.

They say all great assassins are stealthy and silent and our debutant secret weapon lived up to that, and his own immortal reputation. Smelling a whiff of panic in the opposition as they were driven backwards with a slow ball, Martin Offiah intercepted a pass to run in a final Evergreens converted try under the posts. This must go down as one of the most hard-fought and important victories in recent Evergreens history and shows what we can achieve as a team despite a high-quality opposition, torrid conditions and a challenging officaldom style.

See report on Guildford website HERE.

Four more games to go this season, away at Dorking next week then back to Vallis for two Friday night games in March and the finale against Heavies in April.

Academy players stepping up

It is with much pride that we can today announce that Academy flanker Tyler Bush is set to make his debut with the 1st XV in tomorrows rearranged B&I Cup game against Rotherham Titans.

Tyler has been with Ealing throughout mini, youth and Academy stages and has had a great season so far.

Tyler Bush - August 2015

Tomorrow also sees centre Louis Flynn set to make his National 1 debut with his loan club Henley Hawks away to Plymouth Albion.

Louis Flynn - August 2015

Lou is in his third season with the club originally joining the Development Squad and was invited to stay on with the Academy.

Academy Director John Lacey said “These two selections are great news for the lads, Lou has been really unlucky with injury and when he got back was involved in a car accident which ended his season, he has worked really hard to get back in shape and has done well up at Henley, impressing in their 2s and earning his break. Tyler has been impressive this season, he has come on well and shown some real potential, tomorrows opportunity is a god send for him, we’d like to thank Ben Ward and the Pro coaches for giving Tyler this chance and we wish him and all the boys playing the best of luck. I’m really proud of the boys and so glad their hard work has been recognised. From the Academy’s point of view, this is what it is all about, seeing players develop, make steps towards reaching their goals and getting recognition. It also serves as a great example to the whole Academy that hard work really pays off. We look to work with late developers and those that feel they may have been overlooked. Tyler, Lou and Marcus Lowe, who has been training full time with Pros for the last couple of weeks, were all overlooked for representative rugby at U16. Its a great day for all the Academy family”

For updates on both games follow us on twitter @ETFacademy

UK Armed Forces secure deserved win over the Academy

Ealing Trailfinders Academy 13-27 UK Armed Forces U23

Vallis Way was the venue for this years fixture against the best young rugby players in the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force. This is our toughest fixture each season and did not fail to deliver this time around.

The opening exchanges were fairly even, possession being shared but the young Trailfinders struggled to make territorial gains, our inability to influence the tackle area allowed the UKAF to disrupt the ball, and slow down our attack. In defence we were left a little exposed at times, got way too high and a bit passive, this all allowed the opposition to take advantage and go into half time ahead. Only 2 penalties from fly half Calum Nolan-Hutchinson on the board for Ealing.

The second half was different affair, some accurate reflection and clear messages at half time changed the focus and the Academy attacked space with more purpose, addressed the physicality level and the tempo of the game lifted in both attack and defence. Freddie Avis bringing his Aviva A League experience with Bath made a huge difference here.

Freddie Avis

The work rate and efforts were rewarded with a converted try for No8 Marcus Lowe and also with the UKAF kicking a penalty with the result already secured, testament to the defensive effort showed by all.

A deserved victory for the Forces but an encouraging improvement from the Academy, almost halving their score from last year and doubling ours!

A brief look ahead to our remaining fixtures, just 4 remaining

Sat 27th February
Moseley Academy U20 (a)

Sat 5th March
Bedford Blues Academy U20 (h)

Sat 16th April
London Scottish Academy U23 (a)

Sun 24th April
Bedford Blues U19 10-a-side Tournament

Ealing Trailfinders Academy

Steadman L, Hodson, Hitchcock C, Townshend, Walker, Nolan-Hutchinson, Hacohen, Lowe, Bush, Day, Martin, Ellingham, Chamnaoui, Joyce, Hitchcock T

Replacements

Vosabalavu, Wake, Batt, Avis O, Avis F, Steadman J, Luk, Samms, Adeleke

Scorers

Tries – Lowe
Cons – Luk
Pens – Nolan-Hutchinson 2

Cobham Allstars 14 – 30 Ealing Evergreens

Evergreens, young and somewhat older, turned back the years at Cobham yesterday fielding a strong side that lived up to the pre-match great expectations running in 5 tries to compliment the occasional conversion and a random three pointer of which a little later.

Strong from the first whistle Ealing countered a deep Cobham kick-off with an efficient ruck and put Terry “not Offiah” Thompson in with a fighting chance of an early score. Completely up-ended in the tackle he still managed to present the ball adequately for third phase ball that eventually ended in an early score for the Evergreens, with Ash piling over the line for the first of his brace prior to his blood donation effort courtesy of a broken nose (get well soon sir). Three tries up after 25 minutes (Ash/Ash/Pup) and the Evergreens were feeling none of the effects of the M25 journey down but then decided to take their foot off the pedal and allowed Cobham back in the game with a soft try from a tap penalty by their spinning number 10; 15-7 halftime.

The second half was a fine display of controlled rugby from the Ealing boys (gentlemen?) running in another couple of tries but only after Eddie “Johnny” Beck steady the ship following a frantic passage of play with a fine drop goal from 22 yards out. Some claimed a 3 man overlap went begging but the focus and slick delivery of this kick had to be respected; if only he had slotted the penalty in front of the posts in the first few minutes and he would have bagged a rare full house of try/con/drop/pen…rugby perfection even the scantily bearded Beck must continue to strive for this season.

The Evergreen’s domination in the pack was evident right from the get-go with a number of impressive scrum shoves and they continued to dominate this set piece and the line out throughout the match led by Man of the Match Colin Stokes. A fine example of this was late in the second half when a clean catch by Jake from a precise throw from Cotter was followed by an eightman drive. This was well orchestrated (at last after extensive in-game coaching from a patient Bill Miller) by Green at 9 and led to a surprised Rahim Virani finding himself falling try-wards and just about grounding the ball to round off an excellent cameo role at hooker. Also mentioned in dispatches are Neil (and his hamstring), a strong debut from Matt Lea, late shifts Hoban and BOF both turning back the years.

Now the team, back in the Surrey Vets league for the first time in a few years, finds itself mid-table at the halfway point in the season (P6 W3 L3). They say the Premiership is won or lost in February – so let’s push on til dawn (well early April) and see if we can’t make a decent account of ourselves with three big games in February.

Pro Squad trial extended for Senior Academy flanker

Senior Academy member Tyler Bush has today had his trial period with the Pro Squad extended by 4 weeks.

Tyler has been experiencing full time training with 1st XV for the last 2 weeks alongside his Academy commitment.

On the news Tyler said “I have had a great time working with the Senior squad players and coaches, I have been made welcome and learned so much. To have more time in this environment will make a huge impact on my development and can’t thank Ben and the boys enough for this further opportunity”

Dreamrobber

John Lacey added “Tyler has been a member through all stages of the Academy Programme at Ealing Trailfinders from mini and youth, through the Emerging Player Group to the Senior Academy. The whole club should be really proud. Seeing his hard work and commitment recognised is extremely pleasing for us.”