KCS OB 21 Trinity 24
Match report by Gerry Murphy

Having trounced Kings 50-0 in the home fixtures, Trinity travelled with confidence to Artrhur Road. They were in for a rude awakening.

The visitors were soon on the attack and won a good position with a penalty. They lost their own line out, however, and suddenly found themselves stuck in their own half on the receiving end of a lesson in handling and enterprising play from a very slick outfit. When they won a penalty, they opted for a scrum and Trinity soon knew why as they were soon powerfully driven back. The second Mids scrum was steadier and a fine tackle by Ty Williams helped them stay in contention. Kings kept the pressure on, and a fine handling move would have produced a score but for an excellent saving tackle by Olly Wilcox. Farooq Agbalaya was giving his usual storming display in line out and around the field and Tom Wilcox put in a good hit. In general, however, Mids were struggling and it was not until the 21st minute that they broke the stranglehold when they hacked through and Quinn Singh chased well to set up a platform. From this George Kimmins, filling in at scrum half, a position he did not seem to relish, passed to fly half Adam Sheehy and his accurate cross-kick was flighted well for Max Farrell to catch and score in the right corner. Trinity were 5-0 up, very much against the run of play.

Kings continued to dominate and Aidan Sisk put in a strong hit. The Trinity scrum was creaking and after conceding several scrum penalties Singh was the one to receive a yellow card. Trinity continued a stubborn resistance but created little apart from an interception by Marc McEvilly which did not produce a result. Kings fashioned several good moves but failed to score, knocking on with the line at their mercy and then being held up. Olly Hubbard added another try-saving tackle. Eventually the inevitable happened when KCS found a gap in the defence and scored under the posts just before half time, leaving the score 7-5 in their favour.

Trinity started the second half in much more determined fashion. Farooq fielded a high ball, and Williams made a fine run. The move was carried on by McEvilly and Telfer and the visitors were on the home line. Twice they looked like scoring but, when decisions went against them, they failed to control their frustration and were marched back four times over the course of the afternoon. A puzzled Tom Wilcox was then given a yellow card. Max Anderson came on at scrum half with Kimmins moving to his more comfortable place at fly-half. Sisk put in another big tackle before he was injured and replaced by Seb Robertson. Ben Telfer’s tackle on 56 minutes was deemed dangerous and his card meant that Trinity were reduced to 13 men. Williams put in another strong tackle, but Kings now had space in which to show off their excellent handling skills and score a converted try to extend their lead to 14-5. They were strong favourites at this stage, but things changed when they in turn lost their discipline and also received a yellow card. Trinity had a chance to kick a penalty but moved the ball instead and failed to finish. They were back in the game after 68 minutes when McEvilly intercepted again and then surged up to the line. He was tackled but was able to unload to Anderson who had followed up well and he stretched to claim the try which Kimmins converted. Almost from the restart Trinity managed to surge back upfield and when Olly Willcox was winning the race for a touchdown, he was tackled without the ball, and the referee awarded a penalty try. With the lead now, and having found some confidence, Trinity began to play. A flowing move came to Farrell on the right wing, and he cleverly chipped the last defender and sped up the line to claim a classic score. Trinity now had a cushion of 10 points and Telfer, with a good run and kick from the restart won them the ground they needed to keep possession and close out the game. Kings were not done, however, and they created innumerable phases where their protection of the ball had been most impressive in this match. They found a gap and scored as the clocked ticked to 41. The conversion left them only 3 points adrift and, as there were some minutes to be added for stoppages, Trinity had the spectre of having the game snatched from them.

In the final play it seemed that Kings would do it when they breached the defence and were into the 22. A saving tackle by Farrell denied them but the referee had called them back anyway for obstruction and Mids survived.