The last time Trinity played at the Memorial Grounds was in February 2004 when they won comprehensively (0-42), but they were still smarting from their more recent home defeat to Cobham back in November (0-25). Trinity, having suffered a string of defeats, had won the previous week at East Grinstead and Cobham were looking to bounce back from last week’s loss against Eastbourne, as Rory Penfold celebrated his 100th cap.
Played in glorious Spring weather in front of a large crowd of supporters (following the Braemar AllStars annual lunch) and aided by the Under 9s and Under 11s guard of honour, both sides sparred with each other for the first ten minutes, with Henry MacQuire putting in a strong tackle to disrupt a Trinity run. Tom Davison, with a quick tap penalty, created the best chance for Cobham, but Trinity held the ball up and Connor Dellapina was tackled illegally after making a great break.
George Moule, at full back for Cobham, initiated some excellent runs for, but it was Trinity who put themselves on the scoreboard with a sharp interception from their centre and scoring under the posts (0-7).
Ryan Aujla took a great line from a lineout but was held-up, as was Davison who gained 30 metres running down the touchline. With both sides playing an expansive game, full back Moule executed a one-two combination to take the ball from one try line to the other, but the kick ahead wasn’t collected. Cobham's pressure eventually paid off when a penalty kick set-up a lineout close to the Trinity line. From the collection and drive, second row Hugh Farmer touched down for an unconverted try (5-7). This was the first time both sides had scored in their three previous encounters, which had all be won to 'nul point'.
Penalty kicks from both sides were unsuccessful, before Trinity scored their second when back row Farooq Agbalaya broke the line to touch down (5-14). With the clock ticking down to half-time, Cobham created pressure on the Trinity line before the backline penetrated the twenty-two and Penfold scored his 26th try of the season. Dellapina converted (12-14) meaning at the halfway stage it was too close to call what the final result would be.
Trinity claimed the opening try of the second half when they exploited space and insufficient defence to score in the corner and extend the lead (12-19). Cobham responded almost immediately with the best try of the game; the ball was spun down the backline ending with Moule scoring his first try, by outpacing the defence from the halfway line (17-19).
For the next 20 minutes, neither side could dominate play or territory, with most of the game played in the ten metre boxes. When Cobham gained a scrum close to the visitors line, Davison picked up and found space to score. Dellapina converted and the home wide went ahead for the first time (24-19). Trinity knew they needed the next points and when fly half Dellapina was yellow carded, Trinity took advantage from a quick tap penalty to charge over and level the match (24-24).
Burnett took over at fly half and released Will Palmer, who popped up a pass for substitute Sandro Celebidachi to show his pace down the wing. From a Trinity infringement, Burnett stepped into the kicking duties and converted the penalty to regain the lead (27-24) with four minutes on the clock. However, Trinity rolled the dice and from a short line, hooker Alastair Hall set-up the try he would eventually score and with the last kick of the match, fly half Kimmins converted to make the final score 27-31.
Cobham are placed 4th in the league and are still the highest point scorers in the league (789), close to an average 40 points per game. There are two away matches to finish the season, East Grinstead on 22nd March and Old Ruts on 5th April; all support welcome.
Cobham 1st XV Squad:-
1. Chris Lippiatt (Capt.)
2. Andrew Murphy
3. Ryan Aujla
4. Luke Westgarth-Taylor
5. Hugh Farmer
6. Ollie Fielding
7. Olly Fox
8. Tom Davison
9. Rory Penfold
10. Connor Dellapina
11. Henry Maguire
12. Taylor Burnett
13. Will Palmer
14. Ross Munro
15. George Moule
Substitutes:
16. Gabriel Clark
17. Louis Porter
18. Sandro Celebidachi
Scorers:
Tries: Farmer, Penfold, Moule and Davison
Conversions: Dellapina (2)
Penalty: Burnett
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