It was an afternoon to forget for Connacht Eagles at the Sportsground yesterday, as they suffered a crushing defeat to Ealing Trailfinders in the British & Irish Cup.

A 28-23 reversal against Rotherham Titans on the previous weekend had already left the westerners with ground to make up in Pool Four, and they fell behind to a Sam Rodman try just eight minutes into the contest.

Their rampant English Championship counterparts registered additional five-pointers through James Cordy-Redden, Matt Cornish, Lewis Jones (two) and Joe Munro, and with former Connacht star Shane O’Leary also contributing five conversions, the hosts faced into a daunting 40-0 interval deficit.

Ealing – who had comfortably secured a bonus point – increased their cushion with scores from Will Harries and Cordy-Redden after the restart, before Connacht finally opened their account with a Pat O’Toole try on 53 minutes.

Lock Gavin Thornbury also crossed for the Eagles, but with subsequent tries by Harries, Morgan Allen and Redden – his hat-trick – Ealing finished on a high.

CONNACHT EAGLES – M Byrne; N Adeolokun (A Leavy 68), S Ili, K Joyce, R Scholes; A Deegan (L Carty 75), C McKeon (J Mitchell 55); D Coulson, P O’Toole, JP Cooney (C Kenny 55); P Claffey (N Murray 72), G Thornbury; P Boyle, N Dawai, H Fox (C Huxford 72).

EALING – L Daniels, JC Redden, Lewis Jones, J Munro (L Robling 55), W Harries; S O’Leary, G Hart (L Carter 65); J Gibbons (W Davis 65), M Cornish (R Lawrence 65), S Rodman (M Tampin 52); H Casson (Llewelyn Jones 40), O Curry; R Smid (M Allen 45), D Temm, M Bright.