FORMER Bracknell RFC player Luke Carter is due to start for Ealing Trailfinders in the Greene King IPA Championship play-offs.

Ealing host Yorkshire Carnegie this Friday in the first leg of their semi-final (7.45pm ko, live Sky Sports).

And 26-year-old scrum-half Carter, above, will be flying the flag for Bracknell in the end-of-season play-offs.

Dad, Roger, from Hawthorn Hill beamed: “Luke deserves this, he has worked so hard to get where he is. I genuinely think Ealing have a very good chance of beating Carnegie.”

Carter attended LVS in Ascot and was voted the school’s Sportsman of the Year during his final year in 2008.

He rose through the Bracknell RFC ranks after featuring for the Under 16s, Colts and first team and also played for every Berkshire age group from Under 16s to senior level.

His talents did not go unnoticed by professional clubs and after a spell with London Irish Academy he switched to Bath where he played a number of ‘A League’ games.

At the same time he turned out for Bath University 1st XV while playing semi-professionally for Cinderford in National League 1.

Bracknell News:

Luke Carter in action for Ealing Trailfinders.

After graduating from university, he joined Henley and helped them win promotion to National League 1 before being head-hunted by former Rosslyn Park head coach, Alex Codling.

Codling, though, left to work with the Ulster Academy before Carter signed for Championship outfit Rotherham Titans in 2015.

But when Codling became head coach at Ealing he persuaded Carter to join him for the start of the 2016/17 season.

The ex-Lily Hill youngster has flourished at Vallis Way and has been a regular provider of tries during their march into this season’s play-offs, picking up a man-of-the-match award in a 72-29 victory against London Scottish recently.

Ealing’s second leg of the semi final takes place at Yorkshire Carnegie on Friday, May 5, with the winner going on to meet either Reading-based London Irish or Doncaster Knights in the final.

Bracknell RFC are showing all of the play-off semi finals in their Lily Hill clubhouse.