In the girl’s competition, Ealing went into their last match in second place in group 1, but needing a win against London Lions to confirm their place in the Southern play-offs. They took control of the game early and never looked back as they went on to win 11-6. KLaudia Las led the way with 5 goals and Zoe Tuckwell scored 2, while Gaia Litvin, Harlie McMurray, Hallie Davis and Holly Thompson also got on the scoresheet.

The win saw Ealing finish 3rd in group 1, behind Hackney and Coventry Sharks, and ahead of Cambridge, Essex and London Lions. They will next play Somerset in the South play-offs on 18 December.

Ealing later recorded a 5-all draw against Cambridge in a friendly match.

Ealing U18 girls: Monique Hazel, Gaia Litvin, Georgiana Cincu, Grace Kennedy, Hallie Davis, Harlie McMurray, Holly Thompson, Klaudia Las, Leanne Tahabashy, Zoe Tuckwell – coach: Mel Chowns

In the boys competition Ealing entered the final day in joint first place in group 2 and faced top seeds OlyCats 1, semi-finalists in last year’s competition. Ealing made a nervous start and quickly lost their footing going 2-8 down mid-way through the match. A late rally saw Ealing put pressure on their more experienced opponents and the gap closed to 8-12, but they had left themselves too much to do and went on to lose 16-11. Noah Bridges scored 3, while Daniel Rushton, Dan Rogers and Saimonas Urbutis each got 2.

Ealing were awarded their second match 10-0 after Islington forfeited, turning-up with just 5 players. Nevertheless Ealing lent their opponents two players and played a friendly match, recording a comfortable 20-9 victory.

Ealing finished 2nd in group 2, ahead of Olympia, Islington and Whitmore, and will next play Eastleigh in the South play-off on 18 December.

Ealing U18 boys: Kacper Wojcek, Saimonas Urbutis, Ruairi O’Connor-Harte, Daniel Rushton, Mateusz Florscak, Noah Bridges, Razvan Mihaila, Matt Ellis, Thomas Ruitenbeek, Todor Nikolov, Dan Rogers – coach: Marc Fayemi

These performances are truly outstanding given that both Ealing teams fielded several 15 and 16 year old players and the experience gained in the league will stand them in good stead for future U18 seasons.

Victory in the southern play-offs would see the teams progress to the National play-offs.