A determined Old Priorian Saints succumbed to a 43-12 defeat against Ealing 1871 II, the league leaders pulling away in the final quarter to come away with a convincing win as they maintain their unbeaten record in Middlesex Merit Table Division 1.

OPs were at a numerical disadvantage at kick off but took the game to their local rivals, able to disrupt promising patterns of play and eventually escaping out of their own half, Coel Ellis's carry setting an excellent move in motion that was finished by Ben Page following Luke Pedreschi's decisive break. Pedreschi then converted from in front of the posts to give the Saints a 7-0 lead with around a quarter of an hour played.

1871 hit back quickly after the Saints gave away a penalty in their own 22, giving former Priorians player Alex Tarrant the chance to go over following some good passing along the backline. They then took the lead seven minutes later as winger Marquis Daly-Vidal proved too tricky a customer to stop as he danced through the opposition for a well taken try. Harrison Slater missed both conversions, keeping the gap to three points.

A scintillating 70 metre break down the touchline from centre Charlie Page set the platform for OPs to go ahead once more, making the pass inside to Mishka Fibbens who then offloaded brillaintly to Pedreschi who was able to scoot in, unable to follow up with an extra two points but nudging the Perivale outfit into a two point advantage.

However, Ealing's impressive backs, along with the hard work of a combative pack, stretched the space effectively and it was Slater who spotted the gap in the defensive line to earn himself five points, then seven as he converted his own effort to make it 17-12 just before the break, which is how the half ended.

The promotion hopefuls then proceeded to score within two minutes of the second half starting, overloading OPRFC with carries from the base of the ruck after winning a lineout in the 22, flanker Theo Szweda the one to ground the ball as the first signs of breathing room appearing at Trailfinders Sports Club.

OPs were guilty of making a number of high tackles and found themselves down a player once more following an accumulation of infringements, which Ealing then benefitted from on the scoreboard, replacement scrum half Mihai Boian the one to score next just after 60 minutes as his side began to come into the ascendancy.

1871 proceeded to dominate large swathes of the final quarter, scoring two more as Szweda secured his second and Danny O'Sullivan's try in the last play putting extra sheen on the result, 43-12 at full time.

The Saints should take pride from this performance, given they were up against the top of the table side who have yet to lose a game this season ; injury and indiscipline proved costly for OPs but there was plenty of positives in loose play and a strong defensive effort in certain patches to back it up with.

Priorians remain 8th in the table and take two points from the fixture, and will face Grasshoppers at home next Saturday.

OPRFC 12

T : B Page, Pedreschi

C : Pedreschi

Ealing 1871 II

T : Tarrant, Daly-Vidal, Slater, Szweda 2, Boian, O'Sullivan

C : Slater 4