First up on Friday evening saw the U13’s Team 1 donning their number ones to take their bow in round one of the Herts and Middlesex League against Chess Valley.

The opponents are old friends of Enfield and in particular Coach John who holds them in the highest of regards as one of the best clubs for upholding rugby's precious principles, possibly as they awarded him a bar of chocolate at last seasons core values tournament.

The evening started in high spirits as Enfield were offered the home changing room at Cheshunt RFC and took full advantage of the on hand sound system to build the atmosphere.

Following a high tempo warmup the boys returned to the changing room for some words from the ever inspiring Coach Leighton. If boys entered the changing room, then men most certainly left it to the applauds of parents greeting them onto the AGP, and the game faces were fully on as lead by team Captains Caiden and Jack J.

As they have become accustomed too, the size difference was very visible once again and a Chess Valley player quipped that Enfield should be easily steam rolled. As the whistle blew and the might of the Chess Valley pack and back line immediately opted to attempt to punch holes down the middle of the park, Enfield let them firmly know that size is of no relevance when the gate is firmly locked.

After absorbing a solid 10 minutes of fantastic recycling and truck and trailer style play, Enfield elected to strike through the backs with a fantastic try from our superstar Archie. With that try and their tails up it was Enfield’s turn to assert some dominance and the pack with the senior's 'Enfield Ball' play in their locker created phase after phase of recycled ball, allowing the backs to strike at will, and with some extremely intelligent runs and pin point kicking from Caiden, Archie crossed the line a further 3 times.

The game was fast and ferocious evident by the sweat dripping from the nose of the on field ref, and the half was not done yet with Chess valley awarded one of very few free kicks on the night, from 5 yards out, and managed to cross the line as the half time whistle blew.

The second half started as the first half ended with Chess valley eager to land a blow and within a few minutes scored a lovely team try. As momentum started to build for Chess it was quickly snuffed out again by Archie who showed not only intelligence to read the game but speed and power, as he made an interception and raced the length of the field.

The Enfield players shown no sign of letting up and with the likes of Feliks, River, Mattie, Jake, Kyan, Jack J and Josh E simply on fire in the forwards, not only we’re the blue and golds winning counter rucks but also scrums against the head, much to the delight of the forwards coaches who have been working so very hard with the boys.

Again some intelligent territorial kicks and grubbers for players to collect from Caiden, we saw another try from the pocket rocket Callum who had the crowd rocking. Caiden himself then picked up a try after starting and then finishing another fine piece of play.

With time edging away Enfield saved the best until last with 20 phase play that saw all 13 hands touch the ball and despite tackle after tackle, it was William with an impressive double side step that crossed the chalk line.

As the clock was ticking to conclusion Chess Valley who continued to huff and puff aggressively all evening rounded off the evening with a great score that tired Enfield bodies could no longer withstand.

Final score recorded was 40-15 to the blue and golds, but that most certainly did not reflect how good Chess Valley were on the evening. As ever we thank Cheshunt RFC for being fantastic hosts, watering our parents and feeding our players, and of course Chess Valley for being their usual awesome opponents.

After the razzmatazz of Friday night it was Team 2’s chance to play their first league game at home against Letchworth on the Sunday and what a game it was!

Two good sides trading blows on a perfect October morning with Enfield coming out the victors with a 3 try’s to 1 win. Enfield, lead by team captains Josh and Jack G, set their stall out early with a granite like defence. Each Letchworth attack was quickly snubbed out, with the defensive rush causing mistakes to be made by the attacking line of the black and amber shirts of Letchworth.

Couple that defence with a rampaging attack, and it was going to be difficult morning for the opposition. A special mention goes to the pack leader Jack G who rightly picked up the Man of the match award. His powerful runs really put Enfield on the front foot. Luckily he wasn’t on his own and had great support particularly from Harry and Romeo.

With solid scrums and rucks by the forwards, the Enfield line were able to work their playbook of moves, marshalled brilliantly by Otis at fly half. His composure on the ball and ability to carry the ball to the defenders before releasing gave space for those outside him.

Yahya, playing only his second game for the U13’s, got us off the mark with a dazzling run from the outside centre position. Not to be outdone by his centre partner, Lewis ran from his own 10m line scoring an absolute ‘worldie’. With a combination of power and pace this is a try he’ll never forget.

Our last try of the morning was scored by Sam. After the forwards battered holes in the defence, Sam powered over the line with a pick & go.

Letchworth didn’t give up and continued to test our defence which was resilient but did get broken with about 15 minutes to go. At that point he would have been easy for spirits and heads to drop, but everyone kept their composure and held firm until the final whistle. What was really pleasing to see was the fitness levels of the pack showing through going into the dying minutes, with Joshua R sprinting up at every free kick, and the pack hitting every ruck!

The game was played in great spirits which continued into the clubhouse from some post match food and celebrations, including Yahya being awarded his Enfield Ignatians tie by Coach Champs.

Seeing how far team 2 have come in such a short period of time together really does make this coaching lark worth every second.