Trinity RFC A XV 62 – 12 Sutton & Epsom 3rd XV RFC
Trinity 2s welcomed local rivals Sutton & Epsom to LMA for their first game of the season in a friendly fixture before the league games start on 21st Sept. Trinity had a blend of youth & experience in the side and plenty of fresh faces with club debuts for Ed Duffy, Josh Joubert, Ed Swainson, Temi Asanbe, Scott Robe and Christo Patasou. Club stalwarts Alex Scott, Mark Macaskill, George Daniels and Dan Crouch were selected in the side which included Barney Kember at full back, Josh Joubert and Jack Porter offering an exciting 9-10 combination and Isaiah Opara and Toby Plant in the back row.

With glorious sunshine and a great surface at LMA conditions were ideal for handling and from the start, Trinity showed their intent to move the ball well – Josh Joubert at scrum half snipped from a ruck inside the Trinity half and outpaced the Sutton defence to score a fantastic individual try, converted by Jack Porter. The first half continued with Trinity dominating play which resulted in scores for Barney Kember who counter-attacked from full back with great pace and crossed for a brace. Strong forward play from Ed Swainson, Scott Robe & Ben Donovan sucked in defenders which created space for a further score from Josh and the Sutton defence was struggling to handle the pace of the Trinity attack. Isaiah Opara was causing havoc in the oppo lineout gaining several turnovers. Kitan Taiwo, playing in only his second game for the club, carried well to make good yardage and Callum True on the other wing was equally as impressive. Josh completed his hattrick shortly before half time after some good work from Scotty and Toby with some effective interplay. Halftime with Trinity 31-0 up…….

With a re-shuffle at halftime Crouchy into 10 – Trinity knew that Sutton would want to hit back quickly and after some indiscretions at the breakdown by the home side, Sutton were able to gain good field position crossing after a series of forward carries. Trinity hit straight back with Ed Duffy hitting an excellent line from Crouchy around half way and rounding the full-back for a fine finish. Temi Asanbe was beginning to impose himself with some big ball carries swatting defenders away and creating space for others – he was rewarded with a bull-dozing score in the second half. Sutton hit back with their second score but Trinity were quick to hit back with probably their most impressive score of the day – playing from their 22 the ball was moved to the right flank where Sparky made a break and the ball was moved to Andy Edwards who off-loaded, the ball went through several hands to reach Christo Patatsou on the left wing who scored an excellent team try. Josh then grabbed his 4th score with a snipe down the blindside and the game finished 62-12 to Trinity.

All-in-all a great performance and result for the 2s welcoming new players, young players and playing a great brand of rugby. Two wins from two heading into the first league game away to Chobham on 21st September. DoD – Andy Edwards, on his first game back for some time was pinged for a high-tackle with his first involvement in the game, MoM – Sparky, perhaps should have gone to Josh at scrumhalf but after dum-tackling one of their players meant the oppo didn’t vote for him.

Try Scorers – Josh Joubert x4, Barney Kember x3, Christo Patatsou, Ed Duffy, Temi Asanbe
Cons – Jack Porter x4, Dan Crouch x2
Squad – Barney Kember, Kitan Taiwo, Ed Duffy, Mark Macaskill, Callum True, Jack Porter, Josh Joubert, Alex Scott, Ed Swainson, Temi Asanbe, Scott Robe, Ben Donovan, Isaiah Opara, Toby Plant,
George Daniels, Dan Crouch, Christo Patatsou, Andy Edwards

Match Report: Mark Macaskill
Saturday 14th September 2024