Hove 8-29 Trinity
Having lost heavily to Hove in recent visits to the South Coast Trinity were more optimistic on this occasion with three good wins under their belts.

The match was not playing out to form in the early stages with the home side dominating possession and territory. There was good resistance from Farooq and Tom Wilcox and Ben Edmondson, returning to the First XV after a long period of injury, carried well. Trinity did create some space to set up promising attacks but on at least 4 occasions they either dropped the ball or knocked on, when strong runners were in place to profit. Hove had the edge in the scrum and but a bigger problem for the visitors was the number of penalties they were conceding and the warning issued by the referee after 17 minutes was ominous. A clash of heads meant that Ollie Hubbard and the Hove No.8 had to leave the field. Eventually Trinity showed some more attacking flair and got into the Hove half after 20 minutes of defending.

A well worked piece of play gave an opportunity but again the ball was dropped. On 25 minutes a solid take in the line by Teddy Wilkie gave Wilson the chance to repeat his feat of last week and weave to the line for the opening score. Ben Telfer converted confidently, and the visitors were 7-0 up, very much against the run of play. This was changing now, however, and Trinity could see opportunities. Hove were still strong but good tackling from Ben Vaillant and Telfer brought echoes of last week. James Duffy on the left wing tidied up some awkward situations well and, over the course of the afternoon, played very solidly. Trinity then conceded a scrum penalty, and the referee issued a team yellow with Ali Hall the man singled out. Hove used the space to move the ball left and, despite a huge covering tackle by Edmondson, retained possession to score in the corner after 38 minutes. Trinity came back but felt hard done by with a dubious knock-on given against Josh Joubert, who showed some nice touches on his debut, and then a fine take by Wilkie called back for ‘not straight’. Rather than looking to the referee for help Trinity would have done better to look at their own concentration and a second yellow was issued, this time to Quinn Singh for repeated offsides. Half time came with Trinity 7-5 up, not a fair reflection of the play.

Hove started the second half well, returning the kick-off with a huge 50-22. Trinity did well to clear but then conceded two more penalties, the second of which was kicked by Hove to give them a narrow lead. This was short-lived as Trinity won a good position in midfield from which Telfer made a lovely break and then chipped through. Good work by Max Mouna and Khalil Alleyne won the ball from the breakdown and Vaillant dummied and sidestepped his way to reach over the line and score their second try. Telfer’s fine kick put them back in front at 14-8 after 47 minutes.

Mids now upped their game, and it was Hove who were giving penalties away. They suffered a yellow now and Trinity were back to full strength. A kickable penalty was declined when it seemed the right choice to put them more than on score ahead, but they decided to kick for touch. Telfer’s kick was just short but a wonderful catch of the high ball by Alleyne set up a strong platform in the 22 from which a smiling Marc McEvilly emerged to register the third try for the visitors. Telford again added the extras, and the game had turned completely around after 55 minutes with a score of 21-8 to Trinity.

Hove came again but Trinity’s tails were up, and they broke up a Hove attack to come away with some fine interplay and a bonus point try when Wilkie got the touchdown on the hour. Telfer missed the conversion for once but Trinity were now comfortable. Hove came again but Telfer was on hand again to complete the scoring after 77 minutes with a penalty goal. His all-round fine performance won him Man of the Match. Hove came again and Duffy tidied up well. Trinity had control of the match in the last quarter and a plentiful supply of ball, but over-elaboration and frantic passing saw several good positions wasted and coach Matt Higgins will have plenty to say at training about the importance of basics as they prepare for the visit of league-leaders Twickenham on 12th October. In general, however, he is pleased with the achievements of a young squad, some of whom are still learning to play together. A real plus was the debut at prop by McEvilly who acquitted himself admirably wen he had to replace Hall. He will relish the challenge of this classic position in the future.

Match report GERRY MURPHY
Tribe Advisory MoM BEN TELFER