A gallant effort from Blackheath, especially mid-way through the opening period when they fought back from an early deficit to briefly hold a narrow lead.
Ultimately, however, Ealing simply proved to be too strong, the visitors’ power and professionalism shining through in the final quarter when they ran in five of their nine try haul.
‘Blackheath have had some cracking results over the past few weeks, and we knew if we gave penalties away, they would get into our twenty-two and be clinical,’ explained Ealing skipper Will Montgomery.
‘A couple of things were said at half-time, and we got our maul in check and ran away with it in the end.’
The visitors began running away with it at the start.
A mistake at the kick-off saw Ealing mount the early pressure, and within a minute Toby Cousins found acres of space out wide.
His opposite wing Deago Bailey then found a gap off lineout to slip over, and with fly-half Louie Johnson adding two of his match-total of seven conversions, Ealing were 14-0 up on eight minutes.
Nevertheless, in not dissimilar fashion, Jordan Burns spotted an opening from lineout to respond quickly for the hosts, the Club scrum-half then demonstrating searing pace after Kegan Christian-Goss punctured a hole off scrum ball, to evade defenders and weave home from 55-metres.
Sam Morley added a penalty, and briefly Blackheath nudged into a 15-14 lead.
However, with Trailfinders scrum-half Craig Hampson peppering the Blackheath back-three throughout with some superb box-kicking, Ealing were soon back in the ascendancy, Bailey neatly gathering his own chip to slide over, before Cousins also completed his brace with an acrobatic dive in the corner, for the visitors to lead 26-15 at the interval.
Twice Ealing were frustrated after the re-start as ball went forward, but as play moved in-field off lineout, second-row Bobby de Wee drove across on the hour.
Once again Blackheath responded, a mighty drive seeing Ehize Ehizode touch-down, but an error at the re-start put the Club on the back-foot once more.
Prop Adam Nicol burrowed across for a sixth try, and as the game loosened up in the closing stages Ealing rubber-stamped their authority with scores from replacement scrum-half Michael Stronge, a second for de Wee, and full-back Jake Morris.
‘It was great to still be in the mix and fighting for a bonus point with 15 minutes to go,’ said Blackheath head coach Tom Stradwick.
‘But after we scored our final try, we failed to exit our twenty-two and suddenly it’s an 18-point margin.’
‘To add fuel to the fire, we got an injury just after emptying the bench and finished with 14-men, and then the scoreline gets away.’
‘Lots of positives though, particularly our forwards who did well holding the maul up throughout both in attack and defence. A frustrating finish, but a strong effort for 65 minutes.’
Champ rugby takes a break next weekend, but Blackheath are back in action on Friday 30th October when they visit Worcester Warriors at Sixways.
The Club’s next home game sees them entertain Bedford Blues at The Utilita Well Hall on 7th November.
Blackheath
Tries: Burns 11, 14, Ehizode 59
Conv: Morley 11, 59
Pens: Morley 16
Ealing Trailfinders
Tries: Cousins 4, 40, Bailey 8, 25, de Wee 53, 78, Nicol 62, Stronge 69, Morris 80
Conv: Johnson 4, 8, 25, 53, 62, 69, 78
Attendance: 1,053
| 15 | . | Iwan Price-Thomas |
| 14 | . | Tom Hughes |
| 13 | . | Luke Pollock |
| 12 | . | Kegan Christian-Goss |
| 11 | . | Noah Ferdinand |
| 10 | . | Sam Morley |
| 9 | . | Jordan Burns |
| 1 | . | James Cornish |
| 2 | . | Bill Harding (Capt) |
| 3 | . | Archie Holland |
| 4 | . | Ehize Ehizode |
| 5 | Ed Scragg | |
| 6 | . | Josh Smart |
| 7 | . | Noah Sloot |
| 8 | . | Archie Smeaton |
| 16 | . | Ben Chapman |
| 17 | . | Sam Miller |
| 18 | . | Kyle Steeves |
| 19 | . | Harry Taylor |
| 20 | . | Kieran Curran |
| 21 | . | Kyle McGhie |
| 22 | . | Ronnie Du Randt |
| 23 | . | Tom Emery |
Photos: Nick King/George Cracknell-Wright
Graham Cox
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