A dominant second half performance by the Young Lions gave them a comprehensive 55-15 victory against Ealing Academy on a beautiful Sunday lunchtime at the Athletic Ground.
The game started well for Scottish with an opening try from the first attack of the match, Seb bundling over from close range and Finn adding the two points.
A scything run minutes later by Dean, set up a try for Finn and Scottish were 12-0 up after just five minutes and looking like they were going to run away with the match.
However it was Ealing that dominated the remainder of the half with the majority of the play in the Scottish half and much of it inside the home team’s 22.
The Ealing pack controlled the ball well and the Scottish boys could not execute any controlled play with errors and poor choices spoiling any continuity.
The sustained pressure on Scottish eventually led to two tries, well taken by the Ealing team.
Half-time: 12-10 to Scottish and game on!
The half-time message for the Young Lions from coaches George, Errie and Ross was to keep things simple, control possession and let the ball do the work.
The second half got off to a perfect start when an Ealing scrum was turned over and Dean broke from No. 8 to score after another weaving run.
Minutes later a brilliant charge from Bradley set up a ruck just short of the Ealing line.
Scrum-half Sam spotted the hole in the Ealing defence and pounced for the next score. 24-10 to Scottish.
By now the Scottish pack were beginning to dominate the opposition and another scrum against the head allowed Dean to break again.
This time he fed James, who drew the defence and put Finn in for his second score.
Scottish then went through their best period of play.
A series of controlled rucks allowed Fred and Dean to attack and when they were repealed, the ball was moved wide for James to score out wide.
The next attack by Scottish followed a similar pattern and this time Fred timed his charge perfectly to take Sam’s pop pass and smash through two tacklers for a fine score.
Entering the final quarter of the game it was the Scottish team that managed to sustain the pressure on Ealing.
Dean and Finn combined again from another scrum for Dean to score his second.
The next attack saw Zak run a direct line through the middle of the defence and after another series of rucks it was Sam who sniped again from the back of the ruck to cap a fine performance. 55-10 Scottish with minutes to play.
The final score, however, went to Ealing.
Scottish were penalised three times in succession and Ealing took advantage of the indiscipline to score with the final play of the match and gain some compensation from the second half’s play.
In summary an entertaining game of rugby played in good spirits by both teams. Well done to all!
Young Lions:
Yamin, Malik, Sergio, Alistair, Bradley, Mussie, Fred, Tristan, Seb, Dean, Alex, Sam, Finn, James (capt), Zak, Ollie, Callum, Elliott, Ed.
Coaches: George Swinburne, Errie Claassens, Ross Doneghan.
