IGNATIANS EXPERIENCE DEJA VU BY DROPPING OFF THE PACE

ENFIELD IGNATIANS were hoping to get something out of their final home league game of the season only to nose-dive in the second-half following the comprehensive 49-12 loss to Hackney at Donkey Lane (March 23), writes Jonathan Landi.

Not that the final score tells the whole story as the hosts by and large traded on equal terms with Hackney in the first-half, and Ignatians did well in the set-piece, having fashioned a pushover score from a 5m scrum via veteran number eight Wes Warren.

Either side of that score, Hackney scored two tries and, in one instance, with Ignatians having just had a player yellow-carded, they caught the home side napping to secure a 12-5 half-time lead.

Ignatians made a bright start to the second-half and, having applied the squeeze up front, they forced Hackney to concede multiple penalties which resulted in the visitors having their two props sin-binned.

The upshot for Ignatians was the awarding of a penalty try after Hackney infringed a couple of times too often, which enabled them to draw level at 12-12.

Paradoxically, with Hackney reduced to 13 and with the game going to uncontested scrums, Ignatians effectively lost their set piece dominance, having also failed to cash on their numerical superiority.

Instead, not for the first time time this season, it was a case of second-half déjà vu, as they dropped alarmingly off the pace and, with Hackney having the presence of mind to play away from the scrums, they successfully exploited the wide channels.

Consequently, Hackney kept the scoreboard ticking with a 37-point flurry which carried the visitors well clear, and which accurately summed up Ignatians’ season.