TRINITY 38-31 LONDON CORNISH

A large crowd, including illustrious former players who had gathered for a lunch to celebrate 40 years since the first of a run of Surrey Cup wins in 1985, was entertained to a fine exhibition of running rugby. 

The teams were escorted to the field by a guard of honour of ‘Titans’ chosen from the mini and junior players of the Club.  Trinity started well.  Full back Josh Joubert signalled his intention to run at every opportunity and good carries by Tom Black and Marc McEvilly won good field position.  Cornish then exited well, and their first attack won them a penalty which was kicked to give them a 3-0 lead after 6 minutes. George Kimmins cancelled this with a penalty goal 3 minutes later.  Joubert made another break soon after and linked well with Olly Hubbard who was clear, but his pass to Chris Reid was adjudged forward. Trinity were competing well with a team who had beaten them soundly before Christmas. Farooq Agbalaya made one of his big turnovers.  The scrum had looked solid up to this point, but Cornish got the edge now and won a penalty which yielded another 3 points from a fine kick into the breeze.  6-3 to the visitors after 20 minutes.  Ty Williams was injured and replaced by Max Farrell, and he was on hand to get the touchdown for Trinity’s opening try after Harry Wilson had put in a lovely kick up the line and Quinn Singh had claimed the ball and driven forward before chipping on to enable is winger to score.  Kimmins converted and Mids were up 10-6 with 24 minutes on the clock.

Cornish reduced the lead with another penalty before Wilson ran a quick tap penalty and was late- tackled.  This resulted in a yellow card for the visitors. They were not daunted and, when they won a penalty in midfield, they ran it and spread it left, keeping the ball alive to put their winger in for a score, regaining the lead at 14-10. David Hoffmann replaced Reid at prop and the unit continued to function well with Ali Hall and Tom Black in the engine room.  Joubert then set up another good position and Farooq and his brother Fuad who had replaced Hubbard took the ball into the 22.  Mids battered the line but a little more patience might have yielded something. As it was, Cornish held out. Trinity had one more chance at the end of the half when Wilson made one of his signature breaks up the left wing.  He was held just short, and his inside pass was claimed by the last defender. When he had to retreat over his line to touch down Trinity were savouring a 5-metre scrum, but the half time whistle denied them the opportunity.

The second half began with a huge turnover from Singh, and he followed this up with a strong run, ably supported by the restored Hubbard. They swapped passes before setting up the chance for Fuad to dive over for a try. Kimmins converted: 17-14 to Trinity. Straight from the kick-off Joubert followed a high kick and pinched the ball from the defender fielding it to sail under the posts for a real body-blow to the visitors.  The conversion from Kimmins made it 24-14 and the game had really turned. As Cornish attacked, Joubert was now carded for a tip-tackle, and they took a scrum for the penalty. They managed this well to produce a copybook try, converted, and reduced the gap to 3 points. A man down, Mids now had to dig deep and this they did very well.  A big tackle by Kimmins and solid defence by centres Archie McMillan and Tom Wilcox kept Cornish out and Wilcox carried aggressively to enable Mids to exit. Ollie Wilcox on the wing was called on to tidy up some awkward situations and he performed admirably, as well as gaining valuable ground.  Joubert couldn’t wait to return from the bin and then this mercurial jack-in-the-box appeared out of nowhere when a ball popped up at a ruck and was in under the posts before mystified Mids supporters could work out what had happened. 31-21 after 27 minutes.

The entertainment continued with Cornish attacking again and retaining possession before going right and scoring a classy try in the corner. A magnificent kick from the touchline added the extras and again there were only 3 points in it. Mids now won a penalty, but Kimmins’ kick was wide.  From the drop-out Wilson set up an attack on the right and the space was brilliantly exploited by Singh and Ollie Wilcox who exchanged passes before Singh gleefully crashed over. Kimmins converted and Mids had breathing space.  Frequent anxious questions to the referee established that there was enough time for Cornish to come back and Trinity to sweat. A penalty to Cornish reduced the gap to one score but Trinity saw out the last three minutes well to record a famous victory after a most entertaining encounter.

Coach Matt Higgins was very pleased at the way his team had scrapped for a win and used their chances well against quality opposition.

Match Report Gerry Murphy.
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