The DUCC 2XI opened their league account with a streaky win over a strong Carlow 1XI (3rd in 2016). Carlow won the toss and bravely went into bat on a very green April wicket with some dark clouds brooding. Opening bowler, Ian Mackenzie (1-14), on debut bagged a wicket with his very first delivery, setting the tone for what would be a very tricky day for batsmen on both sides. Garin Howell (1-4) made sure Carlow couldn’t start scoring freely at the other end. The Carlow innings never really got started with the trinity seam attack taking wickets at regular intervals led by man of the match, Finlay Glen (3-7), fresh from his long-awaited Coppers debut, was in top-form with the ball taking 3 wickets in his 9 overs. Tom Gibbs (1-26), despite being the most expensive bowler on the day, held onto two tough catches to prevent him from being today’s bus driver. Mention must too go to Jack Kerrison who displayed some impressive glove work. Matthew Cockerill (2-3) selflessly brought himself on for a trundle to remove the tail, with Carlow posting a target of 75 runs to win, which seemed a below par score even on such a challenging wicket. Fresher, Rupert Kettle (3), following some questionable chat in the field, steadied the ship with some aggressive batting from Johnny Lewis (24) after an early wicket. However, in typical Trinity twos fashion, a rather dramatic batting collapse ensued accompanied by some dodgy running between the wickets from Sim Singh (13). It was left to a 10th wicket stand between Finlay Glen (6*) and Ian Mackenzie (2*) to knock off the final few runs in what proved to be a challenging chase against a good Carlow bowling attack. The twos are not back out until the 21st May against Civil Service 2nd XI, which will give the team some time to home their batting technique for the rest of the season.