Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Rugby this Saturday at Vallis Way

After Ealing Trailfinders 1st XV win over Moseley in the British and Irish Cup at Vallis Way on Friday, there is more to follow at W13 on Saturday.

On Saturday there is plenty of rugby action at the club. The Ealing Championship Development squad host Blackheath at 14:15.

The Amateurs 1sts, currently sitting in third place in The Shield but only two pints behind the leaders, have a home league fixture against fifth-placed Esher also at 14:00 whilst a combined Ealing Exiles and Evergreens XV face SODAM in a friendly fixture at 14:00.

On the massive HD screen Sky Sports are showing Heineken Cup clashes with Scarlets v Clement Auvergne at 15:30 plus Leinster v Northampton at 17:45, and the bar will open and food and beverages available, so come join in the fun.

Ealing Trailfinders Academy A v Readingensians U18 won 38 – 0

With the Academy playing at Vallis Way for a second week in succession, this time the A squad had a chance to impress the home support, fine weather set the stage and the boys didn’t disappoint. The team seemed to start with a fire in their belly and a great gather at the kick off from No8 Jake Beavis led to quick ball being moved first to the right and back to the left with 2nd row Dan Cox collecting the scoring pass to open his tally for the season. More good work from the forwards, who provided some quick and clean possession for scrum half George Hawkins to set the tempo of the game. With Dan Clarke at Fly half picking out runners in midfield lead to tries by Tim Hitchcock, TJ Ajuchi and one for himself, three Hawkins conversions made the halftime score 26-0. Despite the score Readingensians regularly challenged the Trailfinders line and only resolute defence kept them out, some great tackling by flanker Oscar Avis set the tone for the rest to emulate. The second half saw us lose a little shape and fail to capitalise on some good periods of play, with needless penalties being conceded and breaking up our play. Tries from replacement winger Kieran Akue, a second for Clarke and a further conversion from George Hawkins wrapped up the game with the scoreboard showing 38-0. An encouraging performance from the As and a second consecutive clean sheet sets us up nicely for a League and National Cup double this coming weekend. See you at training! Ealing Trailfinders Academy Steadman, Shehabi, Day, Enoch-Gill R, Ajuchi Clarke, Hawkins, Beavis, Hissey, Avis, Cox, Wake, Nash, March, Hitchcock Replacements Czop, Higgins, Beaumont, Adamah, Riordan, Akue, Cordell, Scorers Tries – Ajuchi, Clarke 2, Akue, Hitchcock, Cox Conversions – Hawkins 4

Gavin and Kinners spread the festive spirit

Ealing Trailfinders first XV players Gavin Curry and Chris Kinloch helped get the Christmas festivities started at Ealing Hospital when they paid a visit to the paediatric department last week.

The pair were joined by Father Christmas and Ealing’s mascot Bruno the Bear to give out Ealing Trailfinders teddy bears to the children, many of whom are fighting serious illness.

“It was great for the club to send the players and mascot along to meet the children and the families,” paediatric matron Carol Dinsley said. “They helped put a smile on the faces of all the children and everyone else in what is a special time of the year for all.

“Some of these children and families are going through a tough time as they fight their illness, so even a simple visit from some friendly faces helps them massively.”

Ealing Hospital’s paediatric department are currently asking for families in the area to donate a toy for Christmas, with parents within the rugby club asked to donate a new gift of their choice to be given to a child in hospital over Christmas. If you would like to donate please pass the toy on to Tim Dinsley, membership secretary on Sunday in the foyer of the club house.

Both players have been involved in Ealing’s first season in the Greene King IPA Championship. Vice-captain Kinloch has already grabbed two tries, while Curry has continued his sterling work in the second row, having been part of the side that won promotion from National 1.

“It was great to get down and meet the kids,” Kinloch said. “Some of them are fighting some truly serious illnesses, but you wouldn’t have guessed from the spirit they showed.

“Hopefully we can help put a smile on their faces at what must be a tough time for their families, especially at a time of year when we take for granted that we’ll be spending time with our own loved ones.”

Ealing’s next match is a home British and Irish fixture against Moseley on Friday 13, before they close out the year with the visit of Bristol on Saturday 21 December, kick-off at 3pm.

Academy U20 hold on to win against London Scottish

Ealing Trailfinders Academy U20 v London Scottish Academy won 16-12

London Scottish Academy were the visitors to Vallis Way on Saturday as the local rivals met for the first time this season in what was to be a really tough game for the young Trailfinders.

Ealing started the brighter of the two sides in the first half and played some attractive rugby, however, some questionable decision making and often the final pass letting them down. This could be explained by the mix of players from the Development XV and the Academy, but will need to be improved when our other fixtures against Bedford Blues, the Combined Services and Scottish again resume after the festive break.

Fly half Matt Killeen led the back line well in the first half, some strong running play from our back row of Isaac Ajayi, Guy Entwhistle and London & South East U18 trialist Tyler Bush forced Scottish onto the back foot and into conceding penalties. Development Squad centre Alex Ward kicked superbly to convert two and reward the dominance we had.

The only try of the half came from Academy 2nd Row Marcus Lowe who drove over from close range, Ward converted to make the score 13-0 at half time.

London Scottish were a different side after the break, playing one man short due to a first half red card, they lifted the intensity at the set piece and forced Ealing to kick more ball than we would have liked, some sloppy defence by the home side let a kick return become a converted try. buoyed by this success Scottish enjoyed long periods of possession, the pressure told mid way through the half with a line out and subsequent maul being driven over. The score line further piled on the pressure, the final 5 minutes saw the Exiles pound the home sides try line but fantastic defence saw the Academy hold on for a good win.

Another encouraging result to add the wins against the Army and Navy, congratulations to all the players for a good days work.

Ealing Trailfinders Academy U20

Fagan, Woodruffe, Flynn, Ward, Walker, Killeen (c), U,Chong, Entwhistle, Ajayi, Bush, Lowe, Szerezia, Williams, Heckle, Brooker

Replacements

Nash, Adamah, Sonner, Day, Luk, Samms

Scorers

Tries – Lowe

Cons – Ward

Pens – Ward 3

REPORT: Ealing Trailfinders 10 – 28 Moseley

A young Ealing Trailfinders team were unable to make it back to back wins as they returned from Moseley with a loss in the British and Irish Cup.

Simon Sexton, Sam Randle, George Merrick, Richard Palframan and Cody Blackhurst all made their first XV debuts in a match in which Chris Kinloch scored Ealing’s lone try and Tom Wheatcroft kicked a penalty and conversion.

Ealing started strongly and after a good turn over by Tim Brockett at a Moseley lineout the backs took their chance to stretch their legs early on. Moseley then had a go themselves and won a penalty which fly-half Scott Browne kicked.

The hosts had the chance to stretch their lead further when Number 8 Chris Brightwell raced clear down the wing, but Will Magie and Wheatcroft stopped him short of the line.

Moments later though the England 7s international forced his way over after a number of drives from Moseley’s forward pack close to the line.

After both sides traded blows Browne kicked another penalty before Brightwell charged through to score his second.

Ealing ended the half with their first points through a Wheatcroft penalty. The fullback had been part of the move that had take play into the Moseley 22 after Magie and Randle carried on the momentum after TJ Anderson’s initial break.

Browne landed another penalty soon after the teams returned for the second half and then the host forwards won a penalty try at a scrum.

Ealing upped their tempo and began to threaten the Moseley line and eventually Kinloch found a gap and raced in behind the posts for Wheatcroft to convert.

While Ealing were unable to add to their score, it did give their fans something to cheer before their return home from south Birmingham.

Ealing Trailfinders
Tom Wheatcroft, Sam Wardingley, Chris Kinloch, Tom Bedford, Sam Randle, Will Magie, Tom Parker; Camilo Parilli-Ocampo, Richard Townsend, Tim Brockett, Matt Evans, George Merrick, TJ Anderson, Jack Pattinson, Alex Bradley
Reserves
Cody Blackhurst, Ryan Storer, Richard Palframan, Sam Hocking, Gavin Curry, Simon Sexton, Phil Chesters
Moseley
Mike Penn, Simon Hunt, Greg King, Will Owen, Dai Evans, Scott Browne, Alex Day; Stefan Thorp, Will Evans, Ben Evans, Nigel Burrows, Mike Powell, Buster Lawrence, Joe Carpenter, Chris Brightwell
Reserves
Craig Voisey, Jack Lea, Adam Parkins, Neil Mason, Oliver Robinson, David Brazier, Anthony Carter

Cudmore gives young guns chance against Moseley

Ealing Trailfinders director of rugby Mike Cudmore has given a chance to a number of the younger squad members for the British and Irish Cup clash away to Moseley on Friday.

Fly-half Will Magie, who made his first XV debut off the bench away to London Welsh has been handed a first start, while Sam Randel is involved in the match day squad for the first time this season and he will begin the match on the left wing,.

New face George Merrick goes straight into the starting team having recently joined on loan from Harlequins and he will pack down alongside Matt Evans in the second row.

Flanker TJ Anderson captains the side for the second time this season and he will hope it has the same effect on him as it did the previous time, when he scored a try away to Leinster A in Dublin in October.

The Ulsterman makes up a back-row with Number 8 Alex Bradley and flanker Jack Pattinson, who plays in the first XV for the first time since he won the man of the match award against Cross Keys.

Tom Wheatcroft meanwhile moves from his usual position in the centre to fullback, while Chris Kinloch and Tom Bedford, who have scored tries in the last two matches, make up the centre pairing.

Ealing Trailfinders v Moseley, 6 December, 19.30 KO
15 Tom Wheatcroft
14 Sam Wardingley
13 Chris Kinloch
12 Tom Bedford
11 Sam Randle
10 Will Magie
9 Tom Parker
1 Camilo Parilli-Ocampo
2 Richard Townsend
3 Tim Brockett
4 Matt Evans
5 George Merrick
6 TJ Anderson
7 Jack Pattinson
8 Alex Bradley
Reserves
16 Cody Blackhurst
17 Ryan Storer
18 TBC
19 Sam Hocking
20 Gavin Curry
21 Simon Sexton
22 Phil Chesters

Preo calls on team not to lose focus after first win

Ealing Trailfinders captain Adam Preocanin has called on himself and his teammates not to get carried away despite securing an opening Greene King IPA Championship victory over the weekend.

The big second row led his team to a 28-18 win away to old rivals Jersey at the weekend, which meant they left the Channel Islands with their first five points of the season following 10 fruitless matches.

Even so Preocanin knows they have to continue in a similar vein for the rest of the season if the men from Vallis Way are to survive.

“It is good to win, but we still have a lot of things to do,” he said. “We didn’t play that well in opening parts of the match and we need to address that.

“Just because we won our first match, we are still bottom of the league and still have a long journey to go on. We’re positive, but it is Monday and everyone has to go back to work on Monday.”

Nonetheless last Saturday at St Peters was an historic day for the club as they achieved their highest ever league victory.

Centre Tom Bedford went over for a try in the first half that fly-half Ben Ward converted, but at the break it was the hosts who led, 15-7.

After weathering an early storm in the first 20 minutes of the half as Jersey tried to put the result out of reach, Ealing launched a comeback over the last quarter and scored twice through wing Phil Chesters to take command of the match, before former-Jersey fullback Andrew Henderson popped up to secure the try-scoring bonus point.

“They threw everything at us,” Preocanin said, “but we defended a few driving mauls pretty well and in the end we gave away a penalty, but we could see they were physically tired and we knew if we continued to play as we do, chucking it around and moving them that we could do it.

“I think for the players and the playing staff it was an emotional rollercoaster because we didn’t play that well, except in parts. We didn’t start that well and put ourselves under pressure initially, but then coming back to win in such a way was a massive highlight.”

Ealing now face Moseley twice on consecutive Fridays in the British and Irish Cup; first up the M40 at Billesley Common and then back in W13 on Friday 13th.

While they won’t have the chance to pick up any more league points, the matches are important in maintaining the momentum before the final match of 2013, at home to Bristol in the Championship on 21 December.

“Even though the B and I Cup won’t help you stay up, it might give us an advantage over Moseley next time we play them,” Preocanin said. “Also those two weeks give you time to fine tune and rectify some of the mistakes we make in games before we go back into league matches.”

Conor and Tank light up the Lane

Ealing Trailfinders’ front rowers Conor Carey and Richard Townsend helped local businesses celebrate the start of the Christmas festivities by representing the club at Pitshanger Lane’s ‘Light up the Lane’ evening.

The pair were on hand at the event, a long drop kick from Vallis Way, to draw the raffle, with one of the prizes a signed playing shirt kindly donated from kit suppliers Under Armour.

Richard and Conor chatted to the compère about the season so far and received a rousing cheer from the merry throng when they told of the previous day’s win over Jersey.

“It was good to see the boys there and the club involved and nice to hear first-hand about the famous victory against Jersey the day before,” Pitshanger Community Association chairman Karen Jacks said.

Get to know the first XV squad in the updated bio section

Want to know more about the Ealing Trailfinders first XV squad? Curious about your favourites from Vallis Way, where they’re from, who they played for previously and what makes them tick?

If so, head to all new and updated biography section of the website to find out all about the players who are leading the club in their first season in the Greene King IPA Championship.

There you’ll be able to find out, who has played in an Heineken Cup final, who was born in Los Angeles, who was named after his parent’s favourite poet, who speaks fluent Swedish and who is fluent in Spanish.

REPORT: Ealing Trailfinders 28-18 Jersey

Ealing Trailfinders earned their first win of their debut season in the Greene King IPA Championship on Saturday with a bonus-point victory away to Jersey at St Peters.

Centre Tom Bedford scored a first half try to keep Ealing in contention at half time, before the team produced a late comeback.

Despite trailing for the first 60 minutes of the match two tries from wing Phil Chesters and one from former Jersey fullback Andrew Henderson, plus four conversions from Ben Ward, allowed the boys from Vallis Way to leave the Channel Islands with four points for the win, plus a bonus point for scoring four tries.

On a bright, sunny afternoon at St Peter, Jersey started well and scored early on with a text book move from the front of the line out allowed captain Alex Rae go over for an unconverted try in the bottom, roadside corner.

Jersey then extended their lead following some flowing rugby that was finished off by Campbell under the posts. Niall O’Connor added the extras and it was a very happy St Peters, with everything going to plan.

Ealing continually tried to move the ball quickly and play expansive rugby and they earned just reward for their efforts with a try of their own midway through the first half as they attacked down the left before switching across field for Bedford to score in the corner.

That was how it stayed for much of the remainder of the half until a late penalty kick by O’Connor extended Jersey’s lead to 15-7 at half-time.

Ealing, playing down the hill in the second half started very brightly and continued to play expansive rugby, but Jersey’s defence held firm. Jersey had a few bright moments of their own and with successive penalties deep in the Ealing half that were kicked to the corner, the home side were pressing hard for their third try. After the third infringement though, O’Connor opted for the posts to make it 18-7.

Ealing responded almost immediately and released Chesters down the left wing to score a converted try in the corner. He then race in from deep in his half for his second of the afternoon and third try of the season.

Jersey tried their best to find their way through Ealing’s defence, but after a turnover Henderson raced in the fourth try to wrap up the result in fine style.

Ealing Trailfinders
Andrew Henderson, Chris Kinloch, Ronnie McLean, Tom Bedford, Phil Chesters, Ben Ward, Tom Parker; Ryan Storer, Sam Wilkes, Conor Carey, Adam Preocanin (captain), Steve Pape, Ed Siggery, TJ Anderson, Sean O’Connell
Reserves
Richard Townsend, Steve Neville, Tim Brockett, Alex Bradley, Matt Evans, Morgan Thompson, Tom Wheatcroft
Jersey
Drew Locke, James Copsey, Mark McCrea, Mark Foster, Joel Dudley, Niall O’Connor, Jimmy Williams; Sean McCarthy, Dave Felton, Dave Young, Nick Campbell, Alex Rae (captain), Latu Makaafi, Joe Buckle, Ben Maidment
Reserves
Elvis Taione, Nick Selway, Tom Fidler, Dave Markham, Tom Brown, Nicky Griffiths, Jack Burroughs