TRINITY 28-23 TWICKENHAM

Heavy rain rather spoiled things for spectators during the first half hour of this top of the table clash at Lime Meadow Avenue but the rugby was intense and well contested.

Ben Telfer put in a fine kick to win a 50-22 and this enabled Trinity to put on early pressure. They kept possession well and recycled and prop Chris Reid showed determination to score on the right. George Kimmins landed a sweet conversion across the wind from far out and the hosts led 7-0 after 6 minutes. They continued to play well in the difficult conditions. Ben Vaillant won a turnover and the line out was functioning well with Ted Wilkie soaring high. An injury to Reid meant that he had to be replaced and this gave Marc McEvilly his second match in this position. Trinity continued to play in the visitors’ half but then gave away this advantage by conceding three penalties in succession. Twickenham fly half Tom Foster kicked the third of these to reduce the arrears. Twickenham then applied more pressure and a fine tackle by Archie McMillan was needed to keep them out. Trinity won a scrum but were driven off the ball by the opposing pack and Twickenham forced their way over for a try converted by Foster and they led 10-7 after 21 minutes. Two further penalties were conceded by Trinity, but the second kickable one was missed by Foster.

Mids now had two periods of sparkling rugby as the rain relented. They moved the ball left and right and did everything but score. Credit must be given to the visitors’ defence for repelling these onslaughts, one of which must have featured some 20 phases. Trinity’s only reward for all this pressure was a finely judged penalty goal from Kimmins to tie the scores. Josh Joubert on the home side’s right wing showed some speed when he got the chance and then a beautiful move in midfield won cheers from the home supporters when Kimmins passed to Telfer who was flying in on a lovely line to score under the posts. However, this was disallowed for crossing. Trinity continued to press, and Twickenham were given a yellow card. Trinity failed to press home their advantage. When McEvilly needed attention for a blood injury the home scrum had to be reorganised but inevitably the missing specialist front row players allowed Twickenham to dominate in this department. They now battered the home line and seemed to have scored but were deemed to have dropped the ball. Trinity survived and it was 10-10 at the interval.

Trinity started the second half well when Twickenham kicked off directly into touch and Vaillant took a good catch in the line. Joubert made another promising dash, but a turnover gave the initiative to the visitors and, when Trinity conceded more penalties, they were deep in the home 22. Another penalty enabled them to opt for a scrum which they used well to drive over, and Foster’s conversion gave them a 17-10 lead. They now had a real advantage in the scrum as McEvilly had to come off for a HIA and was unable to continue. They stayed in the game, however, and a sniping run by Harry Wilson promised profit but came to nothing when there was another of many careless offsides. Wilson came again. He chipped over the defence, gathered and unloaded to Mc Millan who passed to Ben Edmonson. He showed speed and strength to shrug off the tackle and score in the corner. Kimmins produced another magnificent conversion from the touchline and the scores were level again at 17-17.

Trinity tidied up well from the kick off but were again penalised and Foster kicked a fine goal from halfway to regain the lead for the visitors. On the hour Kimmins cancelled this out with another peach from the 10-metre line. The makeshift Trinity scrum was doing very well but were penalised for wheeling when it seemed that the ball was already out, and Foster kicked the visitors into the lead again. In the next passage of play Twickenham received another yellow card and Trinity could see a real opportunity to attack. Telfer went for the corner with the penalty but overcooked it and Twickenham escaped. Trinity came again and it seemed that Telfer had scored, but play was called back for a head injury. When play resumed, they battered the Twickenham line and Vaillant and Khalil Alleyne were stopped just short. Trinity were patient, however, and eventually let the ball out and Kimmins fired a pass to Joubert who sidestepped with glee to score. As we were now in the last 10 minutes an injury in the front row meant that scrums were uncontested. Trinity were not going to give up their hard-won lead and were pressing at the end of the game. They forced a penalty which Kimmins duly converted to seal a memorable victory.

Trinity are now top of a very competitive league with five straight victories, none of them easy.

Match report – Gerry Murphy
Tribe Man of the Match – George Kimmins