Trailfinders Claim Championship Crown Despite Stumble
By Paul I
May 14 2024
Round 21 of the Championship saw another high-scoring weekend with Ealing Trailfinders clinching the Championship winners title , despite a 20-12 reverse at Doncaster Knights in their penultimate game. The defeat for Cov at Cornish Pirates was the title clincher.
Doncaster Knights put in their best display in an underwhelming season with the aforementioned 20-12 win at Castle Park over the champions-elect. Russ Bennett, with two conversions and two penalties, top scored for the hosts with visiting hooker, Matt Cornish's 16th try, taking him to top of the Championship try scorers table. Att: 1552
Hartpury claimed an impressive away BP win at Ampthill, 44-36, a six try haul here, with the host's themselves grabbing five tries. For Hartpury, Harry Bazalgette kicked 14 points with 4 conversions and two penalties, to move him closer to Pat Pelligrini, 26 points behind. Att: 997
At Caldy, an injury time, 50 metre penalty from Lewis Barker denied Cambridge of a draw, the host's claiming the 31-28 win. This was a 5 points win for Caldy, four tries , with the Blood and Sand taking away 2 BP's , four tries and a losing bonus point. Att: Not Given
London Scottish hosted Bedford Blues and, despite a stirring comeback from the hosts, Bedford Blues left with a 34-31 win. Five tries for both sides, try-scoring BP's for each, another screamer of a try for Dean Adamson, another likely Championship Try of the Week. Att: 1053
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:05:31:12:19:26 by Kimbo.
He owns the stadium and training fields, has set up an unofficial premiership level academy giving academic degrees and rugby training to attract top young players.
Sources close to the club say he's put in £25 million overall to secure championship rugby, but won't pay for a 10,001 stadium because he can't fund it. He would consider a ground share nearby for premiership rugby but he's not happy because promotion only brings clubs £1.4 million, but relegation £2 million in parachute payments, so thinks promotion could be disastrous. However, he also thinks west London can support a club to compete the way Exeter has and build a fanbase to match their success. Currently building for 24/25 season, now signing mostly premiership and top end championship players while only having 800-1000 fans for home games. I leave the reader to draw their own conclusions about the ethics surrounding current rugby and football club ownership.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2024:05:31:12:18:43 by Kimbo.