Author Archives: Paul Clarke

REPORT: Ealing Trailfinders 1st XV 36 – 11 Clifton

Ealing Trailfinders continued their impressive unbeaten home record , as they overcame a stubborn Clifton outfit with a 6 try victory led by a man of the match performance by full back Pete Hodgkinson.

 

Clifton arrived at Vallis Way with a growing reputation, being the only side to down the colours of table toppers Barking and with Ex England wing David Rees and Bristol stalwart Matt Salter in their ranks.  

Before the game Ealing Trailfinders Director of Rugby , Mike Cudmore commented "Clifton are a good side and that reflects in their current league position.  Both teams are positive in the way they play the game so weather permitting the game should produce a good spectacle for all watching.  We had a good win last week on the road and all are looking forward to delivering a good home performance"  

It was Bristol based Clifton who started the game in top gear, as their top try scorer Rob Viol crossed for a try within 2 minutes after a line out on Ealing’s 22 saw the ball transferred to Viol who creating his own piece of history, by scoring his 100 league try. The conversion was missed by the visitors fly half John Barnes, but he did make amends to extend their lead to 8 points on 5 minutes with an easy penalty.  

Ealing began to dominate play following Clifton’s bright start to proceedings, having the confidence to move the ball through many phases of play, and it was centre Joe Price was on hand to finish off one such passage of play after cutting a good line to bring the score to 5-8 after 7 minutes  of play.  

Joe Price Scoring

Ealing kept the pressure up and wing and Ealing’s growing confidence led to Owen Byuynseels going  over for his 3rd try in his second league start of the season in the right hand corner, Ward going narrowly close with the conversion.  

Clifton’s stand off narrowed the gap on 22 minutes ( 12-11) with a straightforward penalty, after Ealing transgressed at the maul.  

The league’s top scorer and crowd favourite, Phil Chesters extended his own personal record to 16 tries so far this season  after some sublime counter attacking play by man of the match Hodgkinson. Hodgkinson off loaded to put the Ealing poacher in for 5 points.  

Phil Chesters try

Coming out after half time, with the slope in their favour, Ealing came out the stronger side, and Joe Price sliced through the Clifton defence  for his second try of the game on 54 minutes and the all important 4 try bonus point that is becoming a mark of Ealing’s season, having collected 10 four try bonus points from their 13 league outings so far this season. Who said the ELV’s have made try scoring an issue?  

Ealing number 8 , Guthrie Hall added to the pot on 71 minutes, following a dominant scrum on the Clifton 22m line, Ben Ward adding the extra 2 points to stretch the homes sides advantage  to 29 points to 11.  

 

 Guthrie Hall scoring

Ealing continued to up the pace of the game, and at this stage of proceedings, holes appeared in the Clifton’s defence, and for  a player with the broken field running skills of Pete Hodgkinson, this was heaven. Hodgkinson stole the ball in the tackle, and strolled over unopposed to clinch the  6 try rout ,  Ben Ward completing the scoring with 2 points, and with it the game 36-11.    

Skipper Jay King said after the team’s 11th win of the season,  "Other than the 1st minute slip up when we let them in for a try, I thought it was a controlled, mature performance from the squad. It was the first  of the "top 4" to come to Vallis Way and we are pleased with the way we performed. We have to pleased with where we are at this stage of the season".  

Away from Vallis Way, Barking could only manage a two try victory over Richmond, which means that Barking and Ealing Trailfinders go into the last game of 2009 in joint top spot. Third placed Rosslyn Park had an impressive 38-15 win over Southend to keep the pressure on the top two sides.  

Next weekend, Ealing travel to 14th placed Barnes,  a familiar venue and old friends from their days in London One. Kick off is 2pm at Barnes Elms.  

Ealing Trailfinders team

15 – Hodgkinson ,14 – Chesters, 13 – Burcham , 12 – Price ,11 – Bruynseels, 10 – Ward, 9 – Gill, 8 – Hall, 7 – King (C), 6 – Morris, 5 – Winterbottom, 4 – Gregory,           3 – Alexopoulos, 2 – Moyce, 1 – Neville

16 – Kuwana, 17 – Buchanan, 18 – Davies, 19 – Essien, 20 – Young

PREVIEW: Ealing Trailfinders v Clifton 12th December

Another important league game this weekend as Ealing Trailfinders return to Vallis Way following  their history making first win at Westcombe Park.

Clifton RFC make a  welcome return to  Ealing  The Bristol based club are back in N2S this season after dropping down a division after the 2007/08 season, but returned to N2S as Champions of SW1 last season. Many changes occurred at Station Road over the pre season, the arrival of Ex Premiership players Matt Salter ,   Mark "Ronnie" Reagan and England wing David Rees to help their DoR Darren Lloyd plan for their assault on N2S.  Whilst skipper Jay King and the boys won’t see this as a defining game of the season, it will none the less represent a challange in the run up to the half way point of the season. 

Clifton RFC – A brief history

cliftonlogoonlysmaller.jpg

Clifton Rugby Club was formed on 27th September 1872 at the Kings Arms on Blackboy Hill in Clifton, Bristol. The pub still stands , although it was rebuilt in 1902, and since refurbishment in the late 1990’s was known as Bohemia. It was then renamed Babushka, then Stark and was refurbished and renamed The Black Bear at the end of 2007. It has now (2009) reverted back to its original name of The Kings Arms. We are the 31st oldest club in the United Kingdom, the 20th oldest in England, the 2nd oldest in the South West (Bath beat us by 7 years) and the oldest in Bristol.

We have had 3 players gain international honours while playing for Clifton, James Arthur Bush in 1872, 73, 75, and 76, Hiatt Cowles Baker in 1887 and John Currie 1956-62. Many players have played for their country before or after playing for Clifton, most notable of these are 2 England captains, in 1955 Peter Young and in 1967 Colin McFadyean and the first captain of Wales, James Alfred Bevan, in 1881.

This web site is the most comprehensive history of Clifton Rugby Football Club ever. Not just a history of Clifton Rugby Football Club but also background on the players, what they did outside of rugby, who they were. This has concentrated on the 33 Internationals that have played for Clifton. We have had playing for us 20 England internationals, 4 Scotland, 1 Ireland, 4 Wales, 1 Zimbabwe, 1 Hong Kong, 1 Switzerland and 1 Malta.

Clifton currently sit in 4th position. 8 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses is their return from their 12 outings so far this season. They are the only team to have downed the colours of table toppers Barking , with an injury time try (17-13) , and are unbeaten at home. They have a 50% success rate away from Station Road So who are Clifton’s danger men? Well top try scorer is wing Rob Viol with 12 ( 1 behind our own speedster Phil Chesters ) and his fellow wing Sam Smee on 6, whilst stand off John Barnes has kicked his way to 56 league points. Top of the naught boys list is ex Bristol second row Matt  Salter 

After last week’s 5 point win at Goddington Dean, Ealing’s Director of Rugby Mike Cudmore is happy to be back at Vallis Way,

“Clifton are a good side and that reflects in their current league position.  Both teams are positive in the way they play the game so weather permitting the game should produce a good spectacle for all watching.  We had a good win last week on the road and all are looking forward to delivering a good home performance” 

Previous games between Ealing Trailfinders RFC and Clifton

20/10/07  Ealing Trailfinders 71 Clifton 17

16/02/08  Clifton 22 Ealing Trailfinders 36

PREVIEW: Other games in N2S this weekend

Barking v Richmond

Can’t see Mond troubling Barking, despite Barking’s week off !  Home win and all 5 points to the Eastenders.

Bridgwater & Albion v Westcombe Park

Combe gave us a hard game but with Bridgwater’s lack of any form, all 5 points to Kent’s finest!

Dings Crusaders v Barnes

Ding’s will be itching to get back on a winning track, they should have won against Clifton last week, and Barnes should pose no problems. Home win and all the Christmas spoils as well.

Henley Hawks v Worthing

Two teams who had two great wins last weekend, a close game but if the new Henley 10 can carry on his form , a close win, but Worthing to come away with a bonus point.

Rosslyn Park v Southend

Park have creaked in the last weeks, firstly escaping v Shelford, then coming undone against Worthing last week. I think this could go Southend’s way – A close away win. Losing bonus point to Park – Is The Rock breaking?

Shelford v Lydney

A good away win last week for Lydney – But Shelford to be too strong on their own Paddock – Home win, but maybe not all the points!

What happened away from Vallis Way this weekend?

Barnes 13-23 Canterbury

Barnes’ slide continues as Canterbury’s gets better. No bonus point but Canterbury’s stand off Phil Gibson was the visitors hero kicking 13 points to condemn Barnes to their 5th loss in 6 games

Clifton 6-6 Dings Crusaders

A close game that Clifton will be glad they didn’t lose as they maintain their 100% home record. Clifton went in 6-3 up , but too many turnovers and errors led to a tight game and one that Dings should have won. A missed opportunity.

Henley 39-6 Shelford

On the face of it a shock result. A 5 try victory was orchestrated by new fly half James Combden, who ended his 1st XV debut with 17 points.

Richmond 20-21 Lydney

Richmond only seemed to start this game in the 2nd half. Lydney went into half time leading 7-0 and , a 68th minute converted try by Lydney open side Will Jones was the difference between the sides.

Southend 61-0 Bridgwater & Albion

Southend brushed aside Bridgwater with this 9 try display, leaving Bridgy stuck to the bottom of N2S

Worthing 8-6 Rosslyn Park

A game that went down to the wire. A scoreless first half, saw Park’s fly half Laidlaw think he had the game won with a 79th minute penalty only for Worthing’s own fly half go over in the 80th minute for a winning try and put a dent in Park’s promotion hopes.

REPORT: Ealing Jades 21 – 5 Hammersmith & Fulham

The Ealing Jades continue gaining momentum this season with a 21-5 win over Hammersmith & Fulham on Sunday, 6th December.

Playing for once in the sunshine on home pitch, the Jades opened their account with a brilliant try by blindside demon Hazel Griffiths.  Within another 10 minutes, captain Liz Garvey crossed again, after the Jades authoritatively marched up the field toward the try line.   Both tries were expertly converted by our stand-in fly half Tash Holmes.

Hammemsith fought back probing runs that resulted in a try for themsevles, bringing the game to 14 – 5 with only 25 mins gone. There was truly no lack of excitement in this game!

The remainder of the first half was a hard-fought battle, with quality scrums and rucks from both sides. The Jades first pod in the line-out proved to be a thorn in the opposition’s side, with Hazel Griffiths disrupting many a Hammersmith throw-in, and scrappy hooker Sharon Braddish scrambing to take advantage of the Hazel’s good work.

The first half ended with another Jades try, this time outside centre Tania Oddy grabbing the ball out of the heavens for a quick dash over the line. Welcome back, Tania! We missed your go-forward play. 

The second half was a game of territory, with some great tactical kicking out of hand by Tash and Alexia Skipper keeping Hammersmith firmly moored in their half.  The Jades forward continued their hard work, with wonderful pick-and-go moves repeatedly from Sharon Braddish, Lindsay Irving and our great 8, Nikky Dent.

No more scores were to be had in the second half, although Hammersmith pushed deep into the Jades 22 in the dying minutes of the game. Some good scrambling kept the opposition at bay, and Tash Holmes hoofed the ball out of play to end the game in a much cherished home win! 

Special mention goes to Laura Kelly and Anna Willis who buoyed up the tight five with quality play. This was Laura’s first full game, and we are all pleased to see her show her potential for the full 70 minutes. Anna Willis returns to us after a long absence due to injury.  She was sorely missed, and all of us are so pleased to have her back (especially me, who has been temporarily occupying her jersey for some time now!). 

Congratulations Jades!  All the hard work is paying off!!  

REPORT: Westcombe Park 24 – 28 Ealing Trailfinders 1st XV

Leagues are not won or lost in September, but more often than not as you reach the turn of the year, when pitches get heavy and injuries begin to take their toll, so a close bonus point win away at Combe  will be viewed as a good result .

Ealing Trailfinders arrived at Goddington Dean for this first league meeting between the two clubs with a growing reputation. With Ealing in second place, and leaders Barking having a weekend off, this was an opportunity to close the gap between the two sides at the top.

Despite the final score of 24-28 to Ealing, and the 5 points in the bag, this was a game that saw the lead change hands on numerous occasions.

Westcombe Park stand off, Lee Audis  started proceedings on  six minutes with the first of his three drop goals, but Ealing Trailfinders swiftly hit back with a 10th minute try, coming from a good catch and drive from the lineout and a powerful drive by Ealing  number 8 Guthrie Hall. 

Combe replied with two more Audis drop goals on 16 and 24 minutes, Ben Ward replying with a penalty on 18 minutes.

A break by Westcombe’s centre Bowles took the homes side lead to 14-8 on 27 minutes, and it was left to Ealing skipper Jay King to restore the visitors lead on 33 minutes.  Ealing once again tested the Combe line with a good catch and drive and King scored from the back of the resulting ruck.

Ben Ward added the 2 points to take a close 14-15 lead into half time.

Once again Audis and Ward swapped penalties on 43 and 49 minutes as both sides looked to up the ante after the break. It was Coombe who broke the deadlock with what the home crowd said was the try of the day, when Wescombe number 8, Gareth Inches crossed the visitors try line. Audis added the conversion to make the score 24-18 with just over twenty minutes remaining.

With Ealing now putting Combe under constant pressure in their own half , and they didn’t count on the leagues top try scorer, Phil Chesters and the returning Owen Bruynseels. The deadly pair proved to be the difference. Chester broke down the left wing to score his 15th try of the campaign on 59 minutes from a well executed scrum move, and it was left to his fellow wing Bruynseels to round off what will be looked on as a well earned bonus point, to leave the final score 24-28 to Ealing.

The day got better on hearing that 4th place Clifton had drawn against Dings, and 3rd place Rosslyn Park had lost to Worthing away.

Director of Rugby Mike Cudmore, commenting on his teams10th win of the season said  “We new it was going to be a difficult place to go and get a result.  The team stuck to their tasks well and never stopped working or believing that they could get something from the game.  To come away with a bonus point win is a credit to all the players involved”

Ealing Trailfinders team 

 15 – Hodgkinson, 14 – Bruynseels, 13 – Burcham, 12 – Price, 11 – Chesters, 10 – Ward, 9 – Gill, 1 – Neville, 2 – Moyce, 3 – Alexopolous, 4 – Gregory, 5 – Winterbottom, 6 – Morris, 7 – King (c), 8 – Hall

 
16 – Kuwana, 17 – Buchanan, 18 – Davies, 19 – Essien, 20 – Young

PREVIEW: Other games this weekend in N2S

Barking v Canterbury

Leaders Barking take on improving 5th placed Canterbury . The home side should be too strong and should take all 5 points on offer to remain at the top. 

Clifton v Dings Crusaders

Can Clifton return to winning ways after taking a real beating at Coombe last week? They have won 3 and lost 3 on the road, but at home they are unbeaten including the win over Barking. Could be a close one, but a win to Clifton. 

Henley v Shelford

It doesn’t get easier for Henley. A thumping at Park followed their defeat at Vallis Way, now they have the huge Shelford pack coming to Dry Leas! Shelford have won 3 of their last 6 games , but don’t travel too well. They should be too strong for Henley at the moment. Away win.

Richmond v Lydney

On the face of it, this should go with league position, but Mond’s form going into this is not great 3 losses from their last 3 games, including a loss to neighbours Barnes. Lydney gave Barnes a hiding last time out to halt their loosing run. A close game, but the home side to shade it.

Southend v Bridgwater & Albion

Southend should have no problems with visitors Bridgy. A straight forward home win.

Worthing v Rosslyn Park

Will the weather continue to play a part in the games at Worthing? On the face of it a straight forward away win. 

Message from the Executive Committee

From the Executive Committee 

Dear Members and friends of Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club.

When we surveyed you recently there was very clear message that you wanted to know more about the running of the club. So we thought it would be useful to update you all on what has been going on at Ealing over the last few months.

Firstly, who are we? If you wish to know the composition of the Executive Committee then look in “Contacts” on the front page of our website. You should find you know at least one member of the Exec, either one of the Chairs, or Non-Exec members. They are easily contactable by phone or e-mail so please get in touch if you have something to say about Ealing. 

We write to you at a perfect moment to reflect as we near the middle-point of the season.

The early months of a new season are always exciting times. Whether you are involved in the 1st XV or the U6s, a new season brings new faces, new ways of doing things, and the promise of great things.

But the start of a season is also where many of us work hardest. We sign up about 1000 players each season, and nearly 200 volunteers, so our first task is to thank every one of you, players, coaches, first aiders, managers, admin, assistants, car parkers, pitch markers, refs, bar staff, TF managers, CRB checkers, and not forgetting kit washers, boot buyers and taxi drivers. 

You are Ealing. Be very proud of what you do.  

It is also a good moment to talk about our 1st XV as there are several clear trends emerging.

Our squad has been rejuvenated this season. They have played with guts, passion, and a superb team spirit. And vitally, as the ultimate expression of "one club", we finally have players who have come through our Junior structure joining the squad.

There are still quite a few old men (and women) around who remember when we were at Horsenden Hill and dreamed of a continuum from U7 through to 1st XV rugby. Now after 10 years of hard work, that is becoming a reality.

They are fighting for promotion, and they are winning by playing an open, running rugby which is a joy to watch. We hugely recommend that if you haven’t been coming down on Saturdays, you give it a try.

As a member you get National League rugby for free.

In our survey we asked you what you wanted to see change at Ealing, and one overwhelmingly powerful message was you wanted to be more involved with the 1st XV players.

Mike Cudmore and his team moved quickly to make that happen. We now have players each allocated to age groups and more events lined up for the coming weeks. To Minis and Youth age groups we set a challenge – use this invaluable resource for your own benefit.

These players can help you, so work with them.

What is particularly pleasing is the great feedback from the players themselves. This is not a chore for them but a real opportunity to connect with the future of the club. 

You also very clearly said that we weren’t doing enough on the social side of rugby. So you will see a range of events during the season, and some of you may have gone to the Race Night, and a few who did may be able to remember how it went….

We don’t want to ignore all the other sections, our Youth, Jades, Emeralds, Minis, amateur Seniors, but for each the message is pretty much the same – things are going well, but there is always more to be done. 

Our Minis have for ages been the envy of most clubs, and are as healthy as ever under the revitalising leadership of Mike Stiff.

We have discovered in recent years that delivering a really successful Youth programme is a tough ask.

Dave “Tom” Thomas has taken over from Andy Kileen as Youth Chair and is working hard to continue the strengthening of Youth. We live in a hyper-competitive part of the rugby world and have discovered that Youth requires more resources than Minis. As a result we increased the cost of Youth membership to reflect that. For that small extra our Youth teams get a structured coaching approach led by Corne Du Rand.

Corne’s job has been to join up the coaching available to the professional squad with the coaching in Youth, built around the Ealing Playbook. I think we are starting to see that really delivering at many levels.  

Our amateur Senior sides including the Jades have one simple challenge – to keep the numbers up. Amateur rugby is the heart of Ealing but we need help. Much work has been done on recruitment, but we always need more players.

So, please be an ambassador for the club, and tell people you meet to come and see us, or get in touch. Everything you need is on this website.  

So what does the Exec do? The Exec has spent much of the summer completely revising all our financial systems, which had failed to keep up with the size of the club, and allowed us to exceed our budget last season.  We now have a simple but effective financial system built around professional book-keeping, and the constant monitoring of spend and budgets.

We have much to be grateful for. The facilities at Vallis are superb, and give us the ideal setting to run our club. The sponsorship of the 1st XV is a huge commitment, but it is a personal commitment too. Anyone who has seen Mike and Fiona Gooley sheltering from the rain on the touchline of one of our less salubrious rivals knows that we have more than a sponsor, we have a true supporter.  

One difficult area – discipline. As a big club we should be leaders. We have a responsibility to be a positive role model for all who come into contact with us. Mike Stiff is leading a programme to set clear standards for coaches on the touchline in Mini rugby.   There have been recent examples of unacceptable behaviour from coaches of other clubs, and we are determined that a line is drawn and we uphold the values that we expect of our game. Our referee section has been a leader in setting standards for officiating. Now it is for other clubs to follow suit.

But everything starts at home, and on two separate occasions volunteers organising our parking on Sunday have been abused.  We cannot express how seriously we view this. Volunteers should be treated with courtesy as a minimum. We will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any further abuse. 

 

It would be quite wrong to end on a negative note. This is a great club. Be proud of what you make it.

Your Executive Committee 

PREVIEW: Westcombe Park 1st XV v Ealing Trailfinders 1st XV Saturday 5th December

Back on the road again, this time Goddington Dean in Kent is the venue, Westcombe Park (Combe) the opposition.

 

Brief History of Combe

Every club likes to think it’s a little different to the others or has something special about it’s style of play, traditions or origins. Westcombe Park thinks it is unique in all these aspects. We believe we must be the only Rugby Club founded by someone who never could and never would play the game.

In 1904, a Sunday afternoon bible class at Blackheath was attended, amongst others, by Dudley E Roughton. What set Dudley apart from his peers was the fact that he was crippled and had to use a crutch to walk. Dudley also had a peculiar passion – peculiar for someone with his handicap – he was a rugby football fanatic!

In the summer of 1904 he conceived a plan to form his own team.

Since the advent of league rugby in 1987 when ‘Combe were placed in London League 3 South East the club has advanced through the system with promotion reaching the dizzy heights of National League Three South in 1999 and remaining there until 2 seasons ago. A brief stay in National 2 being their highlight.

So what do we know about Combe this season?

Currently they are in 9th position, with 5 wins and 5 losses. They have suffered just 1 loss at home to local rivals Canterbury (13-22), whilst beating Lydney (21-7), Clifton (20-13) and Worthing (16-12). They however are on the back of a 3 game loosing streak, which Jay and the boys will be hoping they maintain!

Stand off Lee Audis top’s their points list with 88, whilst number 8 , Tom Hayman has crossed the line for 5 tries so far this season. Whilst they have had 1 red card and 7 yellow cards ( Ben McKinnell & Jordan Mitchell leading the way with 2 each!).

Whilst the club’s 2nd XV’s have met regularly, this is I believe the first league meeting between the two clubs. History will be made this coming weekend.

http://www.westcombeparkrugby.co.uk/

Director of Rugby Mike Cudmore is looking forward to this challenge, he added " We are all looking forward to the Westcombe Park game this week.  They are a well established National League side with lots of experience and it will be a very tough game.  I will be looking for a performance this week that builds on our second half display against Southend  and is delivered for 80 mins at Westcombe Park”

So what else happened away from Vallis Way at the weekend?

So what else happened away from Vallis Way at the weekend? 

 

Barking 65-0 Barnes

Barking run riot at Goresbrook as they demolished luckless Barnes. A hatrick from full back Chris Jones, was the icing on the cake, as Barking ran in 10 tries. The defeat see’s Barnes remain rooted to the foot of the table. Roll on 2010!

Bridgwater & Albion 10-20 Worthing

Worthing pulled off this first win in 4 attempts as they came away with a much needed away win. 5-20 up at half time they weathered the storm as Bridgy’s season’s continues to go from bad to worse, with 5 points from their 11 outings so far, it will take a miracle to turn things around. 

Canterbury 51-17 Clifton

A tight game at half time, 20-12, saw Canterbury’s stand off , Phil Gibson kick 9 from 9 , ending with 26 points as Canterbury leapfrogged over Southend into 5th position.

Dings Crusaders 18-9 Westcombe Park

Dings returned to winning ways in this hard fought victory over Coombe. Always a hard place to go and get a result, Dings were the stronger side and the highlight of an uneventful match was the 2nd half try by Dings wing Sylvan Edwards.

Rosslyn Park 48-3 Henley

Park put themselves back in the title race with this 6 try win  over Henley Hawks. Henley suffered two big injuries which didn’t help them but in all honesty the game was beyond the Hawks as 2 tries from James Strong and a fine display from Laidlaw saw Park take all the points.

Shelford 49-17 Richmond

A 7 try display saw Shelford dominate their London visitors Richmond. A late double from centre Warwick Anderson put the icing on the cake, after Mond second row Tristan Weasley saw red and despite 2 late consolation tries, it was a long trip back to the Athletic Ground.