National League One

Ealing 21

LEAGUE tables seldom lie but there was very little between unbeaten Ealing and visitors Cinderford – the only team in the division yet to win a game this season.

Cinderford came away from the capital with a losing bonus point but deserved so much more.

The Foresters led 15-10 and thought they had made the game safe on 63 minutes when Lloyd Stapleton dived over in the corner for a try.

The celebrations were short-lived, however, with the referee ruling out the effort for a forward pass.

Cinderford lost influential prop Paul Price in the first minute to a knee injury.

Joe Smart replaced him and had a sound match.

Neil Hallett opened the scoring for Ealing with a 10th minute penalty.

On 15 minutes some magnificent work by Cinderford's forwards saw second-row Ben West go over the line for a try, with Rory Teague narrowly missing the conversion.

Cinderford continued to dominate the match until just before half-time when they were caught napping by a quickly taken tap-penalty.

Ealing winger Owen Bruynseels seized his opportunity to touch down, with Hallett adding the extras.

Turning around 10-5 down, Cinderford dominated second half possession.

Their pack was back on song, regularly making the Ealing scrum creak.

Teague kicked a penalty, then converted a try from prop Chris Bundy.

Hallett cut Ealing's deficit to 15-13 with a penalty.

Following that controversial moment to disallow Stapleton's try, Teague slotted a 69th minute penalty to give the visitors an 18-13 lead with 11 minutes to play.

Ealing forced their way back with a Hallett penalty from in front of the posts and a match-winning try at the death.

Nev Codlin and Ealing winger Phil Chesters both raced back to dive on a clever kick-through from Hallett, with Chesters getting the nod from the referee.

Cinderford: Mike Wilcox, Nevaro Codlin, Rob Winchle, Dewi Scourfield, Lloyd Stapleton, Rory Teague, Ben Draper, Paul Price (rep Joe Smart 1), Tom Bozzard, Chris Bundy, Ben West, Ed King, Luke Allen (capt), Will Foden, Dave McKee (rep George Evans 68). Reps not used: Danny Trigg, Simeon James, Lee Fortey.