Enfield travelled to Romford for a friendly match looking to overturn a narrow defeat in November. Despite the heavy conditions, Enfield ran out comfortable winners scoring 11 tries in a clinical display of speed and strength across the team. The squad was delighted to welcome back Leo, making his first appearance of the season after injury.

Enfield began with intensity and scored 3 quick tries within the first 10 minutes. The first was by Patrick who dived on a kick though, the second was a quick tap and go by Hayden, and the third came from a run by Patrick who found Sammy on the wing to score. Patrick converted two of the tries, so Enfield led 17-0.

Romford did have some territory and put Enfield under pressure, but Enfield defended well and managed to stop their big ball carriers, highlighted by big tackles from Hayden, Liam, Teddy and Altamash. Romford did cross the try line, but Enfield held the ball up.
This was as close as Romford got to a try as Enfield dominated the remainder of the half with 3 more tries. Sammy got his second after the ball was moved well across the backs following a good pass from Isaac, a similar sweeping move ended with Patrick finishing, and at the end of the half following further Enfield pressure, Liam scored. Patrick converted all three tries and Enfield led 38-0 at half-time.

Enfield started the second half exactly as they finished the first. Patrick caught the ball from Romford’s kick off and he weaved through to score his hat-trick, 45-0. Romford hit back within a few minutes to score their first try. Using their forwards, and with Enfield conceding penalties for offside and high tackles, Romford eventually broke through to score - Enfield 45–5 Romford

Enfield responded with clever interplay down the right with Isaac timing his pass perfectly to release Donnie, who glided through to score in the corner. Two minutes later, Romford hit back and scored a second try, again utilising their pack and running at pace. The score was 52-12.
Enfield stepped up again and scored 3 further tries. Sammy ran in his hat-trick following good work by Patrick. The second was following Ollie H ripping the ball and offloading smartly to allow Matteo to score.

Enfield’s final try, and surely a stone cold contender for try of the season, came via a driving maul off a lineout, a laudable effort against a considerably heavier pack – the Enfield backline could only look-on in awestruck wonder at the display of power and precision that afforded Matteo an armchair ride all the way to the Romford line. A solitary Enfield back made their way over to the returning pack, presumably to offer a word of congratulations, but rumours continue to circulate that they were in fact heard to ask ‘can we have our ball back please?’.

With two of these final three tries converted, the score was stretched to 71-12, though Romford had the final word in this contest with a late try, again scoring with their big forwards (who made a very good fist of things throughout the contest) to offer some consolation and a final score of 71-19.

This was a superb all round display from Enfield and a big step up from their previous meeting. The ground was muddy, even Steve Chetty ditched the white trainers, but the conditions didn’t stop the backs dominating this game making ground every time they had the ball in hand. The forwards tackled well, especially with Romford’s use of their pack and running directly - one brave tackle by Daniel must have registered on the Richter scale. The try that will surely have given most pleasure to coaches Alfie, Corky and Dale was the last one, a classic forwards rumble from a lineout. Once this was scored the smile and glint in Corky’s eyes lit up the dull Romford skyline.

Our thanks to Romford and Gidea Park for their hospitality. A strong performance, which we hope bodes well for next Sunday’s league fixture against Welwyn.