A roaring second-half comeback gave second-place Ealing Trailfinders a stunning 25-17 win away to in-form Bedford Blues.

Bedford took the game to Ealing, and took a 17-8 half-time advantage after Michael Le Bourgeois’ offload sent Matt Worley through, and Will Maisey’s chip set up Alfie Garside to go over. Matt Cornish’s maul try was all Ealing could muster in the first 40, but the league’s best attack clicked into gear after the interval.

 

With the wind on their side, Dan Jones kicked the Trailfinders within a score, and discipline cost the Blues, who were down to 13 when Louie James intentionally knocked-on and Fred Tuilagi took down a maul to concede a penalty try.

Cornish got his second late on to secure Ealing’s fourth straight win, going over after another maul got rolling, handing third-placed Bedford only their second loss of the season. 

 

 

Leaders Coventry preserved their unbeaten season after an 80th-minute try snatched a 14-13 win against Hartpury.

They were given an almighty scare when Hartpury responded well to Senitiki Nayalo’s early try, with prop Aristot Benz-Salomon powering home for a 10-7 half-time advantage to the visitors.

 

Harry Bazalgette kicked through the wind to extend the lead, but relentless pressure from the winning machine paid dividends when Dafydd-Rhys Tiueti scored – with Liam Richman holding his nerve to convert for the win.

Coventry stay still two points clear of Ealing at the top, while Hartpury missed the chance to go third.

 

 

Nathan Michelow’s 78th-minute try gave Ampthill a late 15-14 win at London Scottish. Scottish had raced into a 14-0 lead through Will Trenholm and Cameron Anderson tries, both converted by Alex Lloyd-Seed. But their attack fizzled out in the second half, and Ampthill’s Kennedy Sylvester set up a tense final ten minutes by driving over from close range. A tap-and-go penalty piled the pressure on Scottish, and Michelow eventually found the line to give Ampthill a hard-fought four points. The result means Ampthill leapfrog London Scottish into seventh, while the home side fall to tenth.

 

 

Nottingham returned to winning ways after beating 11th placed Cambridge 43-10 following a devastating second-half display. Cambridge had tries through Ben Brownlie and Eli Caven, but were pegged back each time by a Jack Dickinson brace and Ryan Olowofela for a half-time score of 17-10 to the visitors. Nottingham showed their class after the break, and ran out deserved winners after scores from James Cherry, Harry Clayton and Harry Graham, remaining fifth in the table.

 

A disappointed Cambridge head coach Richie Williams said: “No aspect of our game functioned today, this was one of the lowest we’ve been all season. 

 

“We’ve got some big fixtures coming up and we need to fire some shots in how we play.”

 

Meanwhile, Cornish Pirates made it back-to-back wins after they beat Caldy 22-3 - consigning the league’s bottom side to their seventh loss this season.

 

In brutal conditions in Merseyside, the Pirates ground out points through Arthur Relton’s brace, Harry Hocking’s try, and Bruce Houston’s boot, which moved them up to sixth. Lewis Barker scored the only Caldy points with a penalty.

 

Chinnor’s match against Doncaster was abandoned after a power cut at Kingsey Road. Chinnor had been leading 18-13 prior to the outage at 68 minutes. The RFU will decide on the outcome of the game in the coming days.