Saturday 22 March 2025
Trinity RFC 33- 42 Sutton & Epsom RFC

As has been a common theme for the season, Trinity 2s lost their league opposition, so they were looking for a home friendly as part of the Former Players lunch celebrating 40 years since their Surrey Cup victory and the final first-team home fixture. Options were few, but Sutton & Epsom 2s were on offer. The fixture would prove a big test, as they sit second two divisions above Trinity, averaging 40 points a game. Trinity gave debuts to youngsters Eric Trinder & Fred Webzell and welcomed back Will T-D & Matt Shiels, Matt slotted into 10 as influential fly-half Dan Crouch was unavailable due to illness. Trinity were welcomed onto the pitch by a guard of honour from our amazing Titans minis.

The away side came firing out of the blocks and forced a breakdown penalty which they kicked to the corner – a slick catch & drive saw a try which was converted. Deja vu and 5 minutes later Sutton again were awarded a penalty, kick to the corner which they drove over to lead 14-0. Things were looking ominous for Trinity who needed to get into the game which is exactly what they did, 3 scores followed which was the reward for their ability to retain possession, Sparky scored after continued pressure on the Sutton line, Scotty then followed after some quick thinking from Dom Plumb who tapped after a penalty and delivered a great pass and finally Max Mouna produced a glorious finish from halfway after receiving the ball from Matt Shiels. Sutton were extremely combative at the breakdown and Trinity had to ruck well to avoid turnovers, Alex Willis, Eric Trinder and Ben Donovan in particular putting in the graft. Line out ball was working well with Tim Jupp hitting George Daniels well to allow Dave Stanton to release the home backs. Sutton struck back to finish the half even at 21-21.

In the half time huddle the talk was positive and Trinity knew that they had a chance to pull off a big shock, Sutton were an impressive outfit, well drilled and dynamic. Trinity kicked off the second half playing up the slope. The home side were able to control possession well for the first 10-15 minutes of the half, forcing penalties and applying pressure. This resulted in an attacking lineout on the opposition line which Sparky finished to peel off and score, Ed Duffy converted. The back three counter-attacked well with Fred Webzell, Will TD and Ed Duffy making good yardage. Matt Shiels was organising the forward runners well to create space and get on the front foot. Back came Sutton who scored following some handling mistakes by Trinity and the lead was exchanged, but Trinity again struck back with a strong scrum which Sparky dotted down to complete his hat-trick. Huge credit to Dom Plumb, Jason Hoffmann, Eric Trinder and Tim Jupp who all scrummaged well to gain dominance and create the score. Trinity pushed hard for the next score with Max Mouna and Seb Robertson hitting great lines to threaten the defensive line, however Sutton showed their class in the final quarter to capitalise on Trinity errors and take a 9 point lead, Trinity ran out of time and the ref blew for full time.

Despite the result Trinity can be extremely proud of their performance against strong opposition and after coming back from being 14-0 down after 10 minutes. The heart, desire and work rate were evident across the team which included a nice blend of youth & experience. Back into league action next weekend with Trinity pushing to win their final 3 games to finish top of the league.

MoM – Max Mouna – an impressive display at 12 and scored a fantastic individual effort.
DoD – Dom – having come straight back from knee surgery Andy subbed Dom for a rest to be told to ‘f-ck off’

Saturday 22nd March 2025
Trinity RFC 33- 42 Sutton & Epsom RFC
Try Scorers – Mark Macaskill x3, Alex Scott, Max Mouna
Cons – Ed Duffy x4
Squad – Dom Plumb, Jason Hoffmann, Tim Jupp, Eric Trinder, Ben Donovan, Alex Scott, George Daniels (c), Alex Willis, Mark Macaskill, Dave Stanton, Matt Shiels, Max Mouna, Callum True, Ed Duffy, Will Tomlin-Davies, Fred Webzell, Seb Robertson