Jerome blazes a Trail for Havant
Powerhouse hooker celebrates his century in style
Jerome Trail celebrated his 100th league game for Havant with a try in their 44-17 London One South win against KCS Old Boys at Hooks Lane.
The powerhouse hooker has been an influential figure in his four-and-a-half years at the club.
Senior coach Will Knight lauded the contribution made by Trail in Havant's rise to the top.
‘To complete 100 games in such a short space of time shows that he has virtually been an ever-present for us,’ said Knight. ‘His try was his 49th which, for a front row forward, is pretty impressive, almost a try every other game. A lot of our backs would love to be anywhere near that strike-rate
‘He is fast, a real powerhouse and a very good rugby player.
‘On the field, he gives us a huge amount of go-forward play, getting us onto the front foot. Opponents often have to double-mark him because he is so strong.
‘This season he has also played in the back-row, which shows his versatility.'
Apart from scoring his try, Trail also created another with a typical powerful break.
Havant's win keeps them top, three points ahead of Westcombe Park.
After a sluggish start that saw the hosts trailing 10-3, they got their act together to forge into a 20-10 lead at halftime.
James Wise (2) and Jake Hewitt scored tries with Joel Knight adding a penalty and a conversion.
Trail scored his try at the start of the second half, quickly followed by another from Wayne Dugan.
KCS had no answer to the power of the home side with Luke Marks and Dugan claiming further scores.
With the game becoming increasingly fractious towards the end, Dugan was sent off following a fracas. Knight felt it was an important win on the back of beating Westcombe Park. ‘We were aware after doing so well in our last match that this could be a potential banana skin,’ he explained. ‘It took us a little while to get going but, once we did, we put them to the sword.
‘Interestingly, the players weren't totally happy with their performance. ‘They felt they left a few scores out on the pitch. It shows the incredibly high standards they are setting themselves and that is a good position for us to find ourselves in.’
Havant travel to Chichester next Saturday in their last game before the Christmas break.