Trinity 0 Cobham 25
The bubble finally burst on a foul, wet and windy day at Lime Meadow Avenue. Cobham had the advantage of the gale in the first half and quickly established a foothold in the home 22.

The scrum was under pressure but struggled manfully to keep Trinity in the game. Eventually they managed to raise the siege, but the promise of progress was dashed when Ben Telfer was injured early in the game and attacking options were severely limited as a result. Jack Greenwood came on and announced his arrival with a strong tackle. He and Harry Wilson strove hard to provide ball for the backs, but Cobham were very difficult to break down and soon resumed territorial dominance and possession. They won a succession of penalties and used maul and scrum to turn the screw. Trinity did remarkably well to hold the scrum up twice on their line, but the constant pressure was too much, and the visitors scored after 17 minutes. The pressure was maintained and a fine turnover by Max Mouna and a saving tackle by Wilson on the nippy and dangerous Cobham scrum half Penfold provided some temporary relief.

More penalties and exploitation of their scrum advantage by Cobham enabled them to double their lead to 14-0 after 25 minutes. Trinity did create some opportunities from strong carries by Ted Wilkie and Farooq Agbalaya and a clever kick through by Wilson, but these efforts came to nothing as balls were dropped or knocked on – frustrating but understandable in the difficult conditions. Half time came and, given the strength of the wind, Trinity were not out of it at 0-14. A good position from the kick-off and then a penalty provided a platform.

Sadly, more knock-ons and a turnover by Cobham denied the hosts when an early try would have put them right back in it. Cobham played the conditions much better and a breakaway by Penfold put them 19-0 ahead.

The kick-off provided Mids another good field position which was squandered, and Cobham cleared their lines. Trinity were going nowhere as they were unable to use what good ball they got as Cobham held them high up the field. Kicking looked to be the obvious answer in the conditions, but the advantage of the wind was not used. The final nail in the coffin came when poor discipline and backchat cost two concessions of ground to enable the visitors to kick another penalty to complete the scoring.

Trinity lacked composure. The line out functioned well at times but was patchy at others and credit must be given to Cobham who were worthy winners on the day. The disappointment in the home camp will be relieved by the knowledge that his was the first defeat of the season and that the fine earlier performances mean that Trinity still lead the league. They knew that this is a very competitive division but will come again after a rest next weekend.

MATCH REPORT by a bedragg;ed Gerry Murphy.