Round 6 saw Corstorphine travel along to Inverleith park to take on Trinity Accies in this week’s league encounter on a cool autumnal October afternoon.

From the kick off Trinity gained a kickable penalty. After jumping for the high ball, Liam Ramage, having been caught with his tip toes grazing the grass was deemed to be holding on in the tackle. Something a big away support didn’t agree with. The penalty was duly missed by Trinity and after a few kick exchanges between the back lines Eoin Kelly decided it was time to straighten up and test the Trinity defence. Three phases later stand-off, Harry Loakman, tied the Trinity defence in after a small break before the ball found Taylah Muru-King who threw a great miss 2 pass to Euan Page who broke through the defensive line and made 20 metres before offloading to a rampaging Paul Strachan who could yet again smell a try coming his way. A quick dash to the line and Cougars found themselves 7-0 up after 4 mins.

The exchanges came thick and fast over the next ten minutes before a Corstorphine lineout, just inside the Trinity 10 metre line, was driven well beyond the 22 before being shipped to the wing for Tom Hunter to score in the corner. Muru-King marginally missed the conversion from out wide.

History then repeated from the kick off as the Cougars gave away another penalty, this time for being off their feet at the breakdown. The Trinity kicker took the opportunity on this occasion to make it 3-12.

The exchanges continued with Trinity doing well to contain Corstorphine from scoring again with some good turnover ball. The big hits started to come at a cost though as Eoin Kelly carried into the Trinity second row who was promptly sat down and required medical support before leaving the pitch for the afternoon. Trinity responded and scored their only try of the afternoon from some quick rucks and a good break before offloading to allow the centre to weave his way to the try line from about 25 metres out. The conversion kicked made it 10-12. Trinity continued to frustrate the Cougars but started lose players and finished the half with 14.

With the second half underway Trinity remained stubborn and worked hard with 14 to keep Corstorphine at bay. But the Corstorphine pressure was starting to tell. A change in personnel, with Maiden into scrum half and Muru-King moved to stand-off, the pace quickened and Trinity succumbed.

A kick return from the 5m line from Trinity was returned in kind from a trademark barnstorming Fred Flintstone-esque run from Kevin West. Two phases later and Euan Page stepped well and found the space to drag the defender over the line, bouncing off the post before touching down.

The Trinity heads didn’t drop though and those remaining on the field continued to make a valiant effort to keep Corstorphine at bay. Trinity dropped another player and fought on with 13. Corstorphine took advantage though and shipped the ball into space wide from a lineout to allow Fraser Wright to score in the corner. The conversion kicked and the points secured at 10-26, it felt like the job was done.

The Cougars however didn’t show any mercy and continued to batter the Trinity defensive line before yet another Trinity player dropped off the pitch. The hopeful questions of ‘can we concede now’ asked by the Trinity captain. The ref sternly telling them there’s only 6 minutes to go – see it out.

The last word was to be had by Westy on his 50th 1st XV appearance. The first forward to reach the milestone since the reboot a few years ago. A quick tap pen and a mazy run by Tom Hunter took the Cougars to within 10 metres. As the ball was recycled and Maiden passed the ball from the bottom of the ruck there was only going to be one outcome. A shrewd dummy followed by a step and smash into some defenders before freeing his arms to reach for the whitewash. As the away crowd erupted and the boys rushed in to surround Westy in celebration for what seemed like a meaningless try, the confusion in the Trinity ranks was plain to see. With the conversion made the score line finished 10-33.

A big thanks to the supporters who came along and supported - it was appreciated by the team!

Livingston this week with an earlier kick off time of 12:30.