Ealing 11 Leeds Carnegie 46: Play-offs in sight as Carnegie defy the conditions

Leeds Carnegie took another step towards the play-offs with an impressive seven-try win on a quagmire of a pitch at Vallis Way.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Feb 2014, 07:29 BST

Despite the standing water on a heavily-sanded playing surface, Carnegie coach James Lowes said: “I’m very pleased with that performance, the guys prepared well for the conditions and I’m pleased they took it all on board.

“You can’t always play on a carpet-like field and sometimes you’ve got to do it the hard way throughout the winter. But you’ve just got to deal with it and that’s what we did really well.”

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With referee Greg MacDonald keen to keep the game moving, he sent captain Jacob Rowan to the sin-bin in the sixth minute for slowing play and killing the ball.

However, the visitors took the lead when Nathan Hannay charged down a clearance and his hack forward was touched down by Fred Burdon and Alex Lozowski added the conversion.

Ealing got their reward for dominating possession when Ben Ward’s crossfield kick bounced kindly for Phil Chesters, who charged over.

A fast break from Lozowski allowed Ben Hooper to rumble the ball over and the former Chelsea academy graduate kicked the two points.

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Leeds were then penalised for not driving straight at the scrum and Ward kicked his first penalty from 40 metres.

Carnegie took a 16-point lead into half-time thanks to a second try from Burdon and Lozowski’s penalty from 20 metres.

Ealing cut the deficit with Ward’s penalty but Leeds collected their try-scoring bonus point after a rolling maul allowed Joe Graham to ground the ball.

Excellent work from Lowes’s men saw them work the ball out wide and smart offload from Lozowski allowed Mike Myerscough to crash over.

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A kick forward allowed Josh Griffin to chase it down and score the sixth try out wide, before replacement Oli Goss’s smart grab from a wayward pass allowed him to dive over in the corner and complete the rout.

Ealing Trailfinders: Henderson, Wardingley, Kinloch, McLean, Chesters, Ward, Thompson, Neville, Crumpton (Townsend 50), Carey (Brockett 40), Pape, Merrick, Preocanin, Siggery, Evans.

Leeds Carnegie: Holmes, Griffin, Vickerman, Burdon, D Doherty (Goss 59), Lozowski, Hampson (J Doherty 59), Imiolek, Graham (Nilsen 54), Hooper (Tussac 62), Hannay, Smith, Myerscough, Rowan (Beck 63), Burrows (Sisi 49).

Referee: G MacDonald (RFU).