POOR START SETS THE TONE FOR VERY DISAPPOINTING RESULT

Enfield Ignatians fatally lost the plot in the proverbial five pointer against a side also desperate for the spoils, and so they continue to find themselves stranded at the foot of the Counties One Herts-Middlesex table in the wake of their crushing 50-10 away defeat to Datchworth.

All of ten points adrift of the side immediately above them Hampstead, Enfield Ignatians haven’t quite run of road as yet, with seven league games still left of their season to come, but they do need to redress the situation, and fast, if they are to harbour any notions of survival in this league.

The irony of a nightmare first ten minutes won’t be lost on Ignatians as, despite a good warm up, they were caught cold as rampant Datchworth, making light up of playing up the slope, tore into the visitors, and a combination of coughing up the ball cheaply and poor defence saw them concede three tries.

It proved to a dream start for the home team and one which sorely tested the mettle of shell-shocked Ignatians, but there was a momentum shift in the second quarter when the visitors at last got on the front foot and enjoyed their best spell of the game.

An excellent run by the speedy Romanian U18s international Erik Nagy, followed by a good spell of pressure from the forwards, and some crisp passing all preceded a well taken score by right winger, Cairo Sango, who deftly stepped the last defender for a well taken score.

Despite having Erik Nagy sin-binned four minutes later, Ignatians continued to embrace all-out attack mode and, although Datchworth had two players yellow carded for high tackles, a combination of unforced errors, and the final pass failing to go to hand, saw them squander a number of chances when the hosts were reduced to 13, and hanging-on grimly.

However, they kept beavering away and, in the final minute of the half, when the passes at last started to click, they worked the ball sweetly to the left flank where the searing pace of Erik Nagy proved the key and final component as regards unlocking the Datchworth defence.

Having come back on the scoreboard at 19-10, Ignatians had at least given themselves a chance but, the bright beginnings of the half, were something of an illusion, as their influence waned markedly as Datchworth took charge, in a game in which the cheap shots abounded aplenty, with Hadee Fayaz and Cairo Sango both on the receiving end of the dark arts.

In a one sided second-half, and with clear cut chances few and far between, Ignatians paid the price for some poor defence as they allowed their pockets to be picked all too readily at times, as the home side collected a further five tries to reach the half century mark.

They also picked up a second yellow card [Euan Renny for a high tackle]. Although the young number eight did put in his trademark big shift, and he did well to hunt down and prevent an almost certain Datchworth score late in the game.

Head coach Jack Wilson: “It was a bitterly disappointing result and we barely got out of the blocks in the first ten minutes when we conceded three tries. Although we did score two tries out wide, there were times when we needed to exercise more control, rather than just flinging passes.”

Ignatians continue their run of away games on Saturday 10 February when they travel to west London for the third time in as many games to honour the rearranged fixture against London Scottish Lions.

Team: Tom Buckland, Cairo Sango, Carl Asare-Anderson, Erik Nagy, Jack O’Toole (Jordan Wilson), Jack Wilson, Daniel Shaw (Paul Duke), Ken Carroll, Sam Hatchett, Farhad Fayaz, Jake Baker (Calum Middleton), Seyi Adeosun, Hadee Fayaz, Liam Horn (Cpt), (Jake Baker), Euan Renny (VC).
Tries: Cairo Sango, Erik Nagy.