Eastbourne 64-17  Trinity

Our South Coast correspondent Gerry Murphy reports:

Recent injuries meant that Trinity travelled a bit apprehensively to the Sussex coast.  They had beaten Eastbourne in the autumn in a tight game but remembered a sound thrashing there last season.  The scoreline above indicates a repeat of this but here it was different. Trinity did very well at times and, strange as it may seem, this was a much better showing than last week’s listless display against Hove.

Trinity started well and an early penalty was taken quickly by Khalil Alleyne who made ground.  George Kimmins then put in a clever cross-kick and Ben Edmonson just missed getting a quick opening score.

Things then began to unravel when Eastbourne broke away and, when the ball was kicked ahead over the visitor’s line, Tom Fairclough did well to win the race for the touchdown.  The home chaser was preventing Ben Telfer retrieving the ball for the drop-out, but Eastbourne were awarded a penalty.  They opted for a scrum and their powerful pack drove over for the opening score. Trinity came back with a fine touch kick from Telfer and Alleyne was prominent in search of a turnover in midfield. But Eastbourne were strong through the middle and put together a good move to score again after 14 minutes to lead 10-0 with two unconverted tries. Trinity got stuck in with a big tackle by Ali Hall and then he and Farooq Agbalaya carried well to drive up to the 22.  Harry Wilson then was hit very hard in a fair tackle, and it seemed he would not be returning.  However, he recovered after about 10 minutes with Tom Caplin deputising. Tom’s first act caused amusement when he fed the scrum, but not to his own side. He redeemed himself, however, as he was involved in some flowing Mids’ moves with Kimmins directing operations.  Eventually the ball was passed wide to Edmonson on the left wing, and he showed speed and strength to sail in for the try.  But, as is so often the case, while Trinity relaxed, having got back in the game, Eastbourne took advantage of some poor tackling to reply quickly and stretch their lead to 17-5.

Trinity tightened up and Olly Hubbard, Max Mouna and Alleyne all made good ground with Mouna again making a powerful burst. A solid platform on the home 22 was well used and some excellent picking and driving ended with Hall crashing through for a deserved try. 17-10 on the half hour. Trinity were now well in the contest and Chris Reid was showing some excellent touches.  Farooq was playing his usual swashbuckling game.  Luck went against Mids when a ricochet on the left wing led to the ball being hacked on over the line and in a long run chase Ali Hall found himself the last man to take on one of the speedier home backs and Eastbourne achieved their bonus point try. Back came Trinity with better tackling and a much-improved line out this week, with Tom Black, Farooq and Hubbard all taking well. They had a big chance on 35 minutes when they pounded the home line.  Hall and Reid drove well but then as Hubbard was over, he was held up and the hosts cleared. Trinity came again and good work by Farooq led to clever handling in the line and Edmonson was released again.  He was too fast and too strong for the cover and crossed for Mids’ third try.  George Kimmins’ conversion left Trinity just 7 points down and the scores stayed thus at 24-17 until the interval.

The second half was disastrous for a team who had put in such a gritty performance up to now. Tom Wilcox was injured in a tackle but carded for being high, then Farooq was hurt and could take no further part, Mouna was also laid low and then Edmonson was out of the game as well. Trinity played most of the second half with 14 men because of the yellow card, injuries and not having a third replacement. The evergreen Dom Plumb, Ben Donovan and Caplin played their part, but Mids were now up against a very powerful and hungry home team who were not in the business of being charitable. Alex Scott put in some good runs, as he had done earlier, Hubbard, Alleyne, Black and Hall all worked tirelessly but the odds were too much. Trinity never stopped trying for a bonus point and Alleyne created a gap for himself on the right, but his chip ahead rolled into touch. Eastbourne were able to use the space to score 40 points in the second half, without reply.

With two tough away fixtures coming up against Twickenham and Old Ruts, Trinity will be hoping for injuries to heal quickly and better availability. They always knew that this was a very competitive league.