Battersea Ironsides 31 – 59 Triniity RFC
Trinity’s second team have a clear objective in the remaining 2 league fixtures: to win the league they need to win both games with full bonus points with a points difference of +57 points. Saturday presented the re-arranged league fixture away to Battersea Ironsides after the match was postponed due to a frozen pitch earlier in the season. Trinity welcomed current Trinity school players Ozzy Edwards, Daniel Asanbe, Luke Thorne and Mattia Reuter into the squad, alongside Riddlesdown students Ed Duffy, Seb Robertson and Harry Foyle. This youthful influence would prove vital to the eventual outcome of this game. Trinity had won the home fixture and knew Battersea would provide a stern test, sitting one place below them in third.

And so it proved with the home side spreading play well to their hard-running outside backs and crossing for a quick score 7-0. Back came Trinity, and after building some phases, Dan Crouch showed great footwork to score under the posts and convert his own try. Andrew Dean crossed shortly after, following some good interplay with Harry Foyle making a line break, 7-14. Trinity were looking to move play but were guilty of forcing too many 50-50 passes, which turned over possession, allowing the Battersea backs to take the ball in hand and gain yardage. Harry Foyle made another line break after a slick backs move but was unfortunate to lose possession over the line and back came the home side to score a try which was converted to leave the first half 14-14. Trinity lost influential skipper Jack Greenwood to an ankle injury shortly before the break and had to re-shuffle the back line with Will TD and Tom Caplin entering the fray.

The first half had been tough with Battersea showing their class, and 14-14 was a fair reflection of the game. Trinity knew that they had to up the intensity in the second half and secure better possession to provide the platform for their expansive style. The second half kicked off, and the first 5-10 minutes followed a similar pattern with Battersea attacking through their three-quarters and causing Trinity problems. Dave Stanton then crossed for a try to edge ahead and then Trinity kicked into gear. Ozzy Edwards scored two tries quickly after some great carries and quick thinking to tap quickly and outpace the defence. Battersea hit back but couldn’t stop the Trinity juggernaut – Eric Trinder and Daniel Asanbe were at the forefront of the attacks, carrying & offloading well to deservedly score a try apiece. In between Ozzy Edwards crossed to complete his hat trick and a fantastic all-around performance, 52-24 to Trinity. Mention to Luke Thorne, Mattia Reuter and Seb Robertson, who all showed great desire to get their hands on the ball as the Battersea defence was tiring – this resulted in Trinity being able to play an expansive style and stretch the home defence. Will TD ran a try in from half way which was just reward for an excellent show at 9 to extend the lead to 59-24 – Battersea then crossed to finish the game 31-59.

So, the job is half done with a bonus point win and +28 points difference, which means that Trinity need to win next weekend at home to Chobham with a bonus point and points difference of +29 to pip Sutton to the league title. Difficult to name a MoM, so it is shared between Ozzy Edwards and Eric Trinder, who both carried the ball effectively all afternoon and were instrumental in a must win game for Trinity.

Saturday 29nd March 2025

Try Scorers – Ozzy Edwards x3, Eric Trinder, Daniel Asanbe,  Will Tomlin-Davies, Dan Crouch, Andrew Dean, Dave Stanton

Cons – Dan Crouch x7

Squad – Dom Plumb, Jason Hoffmann, Tim Jupp, Eric Trinder, Ben Donovan, George Daniels, Ali Hall, Ozzy Edwards, Mark Macaskill, Dave Stanton, Dan Crouch, Andrew Dean, Harry Foyle, Callum True, Ed Duffy, Jack Greenwood (c), Chris Mitchell, Will Tomlin-Davies, Seb Robertson, Tom Caplin, Daniel Asambe, Luke Thorne, Mattia Reuter