Old Cats 2nd XV 14 – 21 Trinity RFC 2nd XV

Trinity travelled to Old Cats for a friendly match following Old Blues withdrawal from the scheduled league fixture; Trinity were looking to extend their 100% record to 5 from 5 but were put to the test by an impressive & youthful Old Cats side, winning 3 tries to 2. Debuts for Tyrik Olwora, Alex Willis, Ed Norman and David Brown-Bennett along with a half back pairing of Cappers & Crouchy.

Old Cats kicked off, Trinity knocked on which led to a sustained period of pressure; set piece was looking solid with Dom and the Hoffmann brothers scrummaging well and Trinity were meeting the Cats runners on the gain line. However, discipline was an issue with the ref blowing for high tackles and off-sides which led to Cats scoring early.

Trinity grew back into the game putting together several phases, Speddo and Handley carrying well in the loose along with the Hoffmann’s making good ground. Despite the sustained period of pressure in the Cats 22 Trinity were unable to convert to points and were turned over in the breakdown or lost possession due to poor handling. Cats took advantage and went up the pitch to score their second try and finish the half 14-0 up.

Despite being down, the chat in the half time huddle was positive with Trinity playing some good rugby, Crouchy challenged the group whether we could pull this back to score 3 tries and mystic Crouch was right. Kick off and Trintiy were playing down the slope with David Brown-Bennett coming onto the pitch to make his debut in the front row.

Trinity were gaining control and were camped in the Cats 22, a scrum led to a Crouchy/Sparky switch, the Cats defence made a great last ditch tackle just short of the line, breakdown where Handley snipped to score a try, Crouch converts. Cats came back but some excellent defensive work from Willis and Olwora in the tackle/jackle halted their advances, the outside backs were looking threatening with both wingers Duffy and Taiwa counter attacking well to gain big gaines, Patatsou at full back wise beyond his years and swept up the Cats attacks.

The ref awarded Trinity a series of penalties on the oppo line which led to Cappers feeding Sparky who barged his way over, Crouch kicked the points to level the scores and all to play for. Ed Norman was carrying well in the centre on his debut and after more pressure Kitan Taiwo hit a great line to almost score, breakdown and Seb Robertson capped off a great performance with the winning score, Crouch converts and the final whistle blows.

All in all a fantastic team performance against strong opposition; the debutants all played and gelled with the team, the mixture of youth & experience helped to handle some keys moments in the game where Trinity were able to re-build momentum particularly in the second half.

MoM – David Hoffmann – an all round performance from the prop, carrying, tackling, jackling, well done David
DoD – maybe not so much a DoD award but more of a legendary comment of the day award goes to Tyrik. Picture the scene, straight after the game in the huddle >

Sparky – ‘Lads, well done! A fantastic performance, so proud of you all. What do you think changed the game when we were 14-0 down (insinuating belief that we could come back….)’
Tyrik – ‘Well, when you went off Sparky’
Sparky – ‘Cheers Tyrik’

Onto next week where Trinity 2s travel to Bec Old Boys for a tough league fixture, however with the confidence and attitude amonst this group, we are looking forward to another great team performance.

Try Scorers – Mark Handley, Mark Macaskill, Seb Robertson
Cons – Dan Crouch x3
Squad – Dom Plumb, Jason Hoffmann, David Hoffmann, Mark Handley, Dave Spedding, Tyrik Olwora, Alex Willis, Mark Macaskill, Tom Caplin, Dan Crouch, Ed Duffy, Ed Norman, Seb Robertson, Kitan Taiwo, Christo Patatsou, David Brown-Bennett

Saturday 19th October 2024

MoM – David Hoffman – an all round performance from the prop, carrying, tackling, jackling, well done David
DoD – maybe not so much a DoD award but more of a legendary comment of the day award goes to Tyrik. Picture the scene, straight after the game in the huddle >

Match Report Mark Macaskill

Onto next week where Trinity 2s travel to Bec Old Boys for a tough league fixture, however with the confidence and attitude amonst this group, we are looking forward to another great team performance