But it wasn't to be. In the final quarter, Birmingham soon levelled and, with 2.56 minutes to go, claimed a man-up winner at 9-8 scored by Ben Cartwright. Birmingham had a player excluded after that but Ealing couldn't grab the chance of an equaliser.
Portobello retained a 100 per cent record after five matches with a 13-7 victory over Castleford, including hat-tricks for Luca Pollock and Hadrien Collineau.
In men's Division 4 at Grantham, Manchester Hawks made it four wins from four games, beating Cheltenham Spartans 10-3. This included three goals from Joseph Carr and two each from Conor Lynch and Tom Hadley.
Invicta Marlins squeezed home 12-11 against Rotherham Metro, but only after the Yorkshire side had recovered from 9-5 down in the third period to trail 10-11 late into the last. Nick Caulfield's sixth goal then made the game safe for the Marlins.