The U16s travelled a bit lighter than usual for their away friendly against Cheshunt, their first game of the New Year, with their 16-man squad falling away after the break to a 46-21 defeat despite a promising beginning.

A side that likes to give the ball plenty of air, and not adverse to trying some of the moves employed by the top-level teams, the visitors were in their pomp in the first-half with Philip (two) and Man of the Match Jayden both crossing for tries.

Ben converted all three tries as Ignatians, clearly not overawed by mixing it with division higher opposition, led 21-15.

The second half, though, was a different story as with only one available sub compared to Cheshunt’s seven, the U16s were soon treading water as they fell off tackles as the home side, given an injection of pace by fresh legs, cut loose.

Head coach Andy Corgan said: “We were missing a few players today. James, for one, has exams, and our captain, Jake, who has been playing well, is still laid low in hospital, having ruptured his appendix. All in the team wish him a speedy recovery.

“We inevitably got tired after the break as we started to miss tackles and the support play simply wasn’t there. However, we were in front at the break and the Man of the Match, as determined by the opposition, was Jayden.”

These are exciting times for the U16s. Sitting at the top of division four, they will be slowly but steadily towards their crucial remaining league games, including the humdinger against the similarly unbeaten [in the league] Hitchin B.