TWICKENHAM 52-13 TRINITY

On a fine playing surface at Twickenham (No not HQ.!) Trinity started well and were soon 6-0 ahead, thanks to two accurate kicks from Jack Greenwood.

They showed promise of having a good afternoon by playing to structure and working together as a team, to put pressure on the home side. They then conceded a succession of penalties which culminated in a team yellow card for Zou Mihramane. This allowed Twickenham to gain possession and territory, more through the insiscipline of Mids rather than any particular brilliance of their own. They did did possess a talented team and, having gained this foothold, scored freely as they took charge. They exploited two further yellow cards suffered by Mids to ramp up the home total.

The Trinity scrum did well with the return of Jacques Bryant a big plus. The line out was ordinary, not sustaining the promise of recent weeks, but Trinity did not help themselves by being passive and not doing enough to prevent the opposition using the maul to their advantage. Farooq Agbalaya was captain for the match and put in a powerful performance to be named Man of the Match for Mids and he capped his performance with a try. Scrum half Sam Leeves did very well on his debut. Ben Vaillant showed his usual energy and commitment in tackling everything in sight, and was unfortunate to be carded for retaliation when he had been severely provoked.
Trinity might have had another try at the end, but Dan Crouch was tackled in the act of scoring and there was not TMO to whom an appeal could be made.

The coaches felt that here is plenty to build on. In addition to Leeves there were debuts for Callum True and Toby Plant and, if established players can show the way in commitment to training and working for each other, as they did at the start of the match and in the way they kept going at the end, they will be able to play with more of the vigour and enthusiasm that this squad undoubtedly possesses.

Match report: Gerry Murphy
Tribe Advisory Player of the Match: FAROOQ AGBALAYA