MATCH 1 - EIRFC U16 V GRAVESEND

There was a serious amount of spirit on show at the tour in Kent both on and off the pitch. Enfield rallied from 0-14 at half time but the game against Gravesend ended in a 12-21 defeat.

The squad travelled to Sevenoaks on Sunday after a heavy night at the caravan park. There were some sore heads and tired eyes on show. Gravesend were first up and rumoured to be the best team in Kent. In the first half they showed it. They moved the ball nicely across the backs whilst having go forwards. They also had some heavy ball carriers and were organised without the ball. Probably the best team we have played this season.

Enfield defended valiantly but the whole of the first half was playing our own half. Unfortunately we missed a number of tackles and conceded two soft tries. 0-14.

The second half was a different story. Enfield stepped up and Gravesend dropped off. Nick made three excellent tackles coming off the bench. The scrum suddenly had dominance after being pushed back in the first half. Matteo, Berkay, Henry and Ollie G made good breaks and gave the team some direct running. We scored out wide on the right through Ciaran after Teddy and Daniel had dented holes in the Gravesend defence.

A Great conversion from Ollie G brought us back into the game 7-14. Unfortunately we gave away a soft try straight away with three missed tackles on the Gravesend lad as he waltzed through. 7-21. The rest of the game it was all Enfield. We were camped in their 22.

The games most memorable moment came late on through Ollie G. From about the 10 meter line Ollie took off. Weaving his way through numerous defenders he broke the line and Gravesend didn’t know which direction he was going in! To the delight of the Ignatians fans Ollie slapped the ball down under the posts to score. Except he didn’t. The referee deemed that the ball had not been grounded. In what was one of the individual tries of the season it felt heartless . Shortly after following a scrum Sammy scored easily to the right. 12-21. FT A spirited response.

MATCH 2 - EIRFC U16 V SEVENOAKS

In the second short format game on Sunday Enfield fell behind early. We were intercepted on the 10 meter line and Sevenoaks sauntered through the middle. Sammy made a brilliant tackle as the last man but they recycled well to score. 0-5

Enfield fought back. It was all through individual runners. Donie showed real pace on the outside. There was a lovely diagonal run from Sammy to half way. Unfortunately we had no points to show for it. Instead and under pressure, an attempted kick to clear was blocked leading to an easy Sevenoaks score.
0-10. Then immediately after and in broken field a stray bouncing ball was picked up for easy score to the home side. 0-17. HT

The second half was better. Teddy carried hard. As did David J. Determined stuff. Cian and Donie had excellent games. We also held up a maul to win the ball back. Our first try came from a strike play. A good line out gave George a clean ball. He passed to the Harry who shipped the ball inside to Cian who dashed down the line to score. An excellent move and well converted by Harry.
7-17.

We then saw a good sustained period of attack. Continuity and patience that we haven’t seen on tour. Hayden got involved numerous times and the forwards protected the ball at the many rucks. However the attack after many phases was snuffed out for holding on. Alas this period of ball control was too fleeting on tour and we have given up the ball a little too easily.

Donie, who had some tour, treated us to some spectacular tackling including two try savers. Can he teach the others ? Our tackling has been off in recent games and it’s cost us. Getting off the defensive line more quickly would help. However two weak tackles were then missed and Sevenoaks scored. 7-24. Enfield replied quickly. Quick hands moved the ball through the half backs and out to Cian. He feigned to pass and instead skipped through to score in the same spot he did earlier. 12-24.

However Sevenoaks dominated the late stages of the game and eventually the dam broke for the final score of the match.
12-29 FT

Thanks to Sevenoaks for hosting the short format games today and cheers to all the organisers at Ignatians for a fabulous tour once again. See you all next season.