At the end of the day Enfield Ignatians' cup pedigree counted for nothing as they again drew a blank after exiting the second round of the Intermediate Cup with a rather tame whimper rather than a tumultuous bang which was their hallmark in this competition last season when they made it all the way to the London final.

Those days are clearly light years away as Ignatians, currently in the midst of a slump which has seen them lose four on the bounce, seemed to be struggling with themselves mentally, and the paltry average return of seven points a game since the resounding first round cup win against Hemel Hempstead tells its own sorry story.

Not that Hammersmith's record was much better in the lead-up to this game. Having been relegated from London One last season, and having lost seven players during the summer, the form of the Hurlingham Park outfit had also dipped after losing three straight games, but when it came to the crunch they had far too much ammunition up their sleeves.

Although Ignatians fielded a far stronger outfit on paper compared to the Holt game, their fragile confidence was dented in the second minute which resulted in captain Richard Laurence leaving the field after taking a heavy bang to the ribs. A mishap compounded by the coughing-up of a cheap penalty which was duly landed by the Hammers' kicker.

Forced to move Carl Buckland to eight in the reshuffle, and struggling to make their patterns of play count, Ignatians did have plenty of presence in the lineout and did well to snaffle a fair amount of opposition ball. Vigorous at the breakdown, they also proved good foragers with the likes of Sam Clark, Phil Tucker, Tom Killey and Tan Mbonu all doing well to force Hammers into error mode. Yet it was never quite enough.

Ignatians proved unable to hang on to the ball for any great length of time which was the twin-product of some sterling Hammers' defence and a frustrating propensity to concede penalties. Consequently, Ignatians had little or no platform in this game as their attack became increasingly blunted; the result, too, of spilling far too much ball.

Hammersmith & Fulham, runaway champions in London Two North-West two seasons ago, had the fluency Ignatians' backline lacked in spades, and they looked dangerous each time they got width on the game. Fly-half James Bird was the tormentor in chief as he almost single-handedly masterminded the blue and golds' downfall.

Successfully stretching Ignatians from one side to the other, Hammersmith & Fulham increased their lead after working an overlap which was finished off by flanker James Smart. The deficit continued to rise after the conversion was landed, and the Hammers' kicker further punished the visitors with a successful penalty for off-side.

Showing the benefits of Thursday's training session with Rory Greenslade-Jones, the Hammersmith backline, going through the full repertoire of neat shows of the ball, half-breaks and loops, continued to run Ignatians ragged, and Bird again found his wings after jinxing his way through the visitors' defence and proving the catalyst for the second try after linking with Tom Hamnett.

Although their tactical kicking was found wanting, Ignatians should at least have had a try before the break, and they missed their best chance of the game when fly-half Adam Smith dropped the ball with the line in sight.

Missing too many tackles and allowing their pockets to be picked far too easily was one summing up of the first-half showing, and coach Emile Hertz decided to introduce prop Shaun Quinn (for Jack Stockman) in the second-half, as gradually Deepesh Dalal (for Sam Emery), and Hadee Fayaz (for Tan Mbonu) were introduced to the fray.

However, Ignatians' injury jinx also struck in the second-period when one of their key figures, Tom Moore, suffered a badly gashed cheek which the legacy of an accidental stray boot. This resulted in a recall for Sam Emery, who had been replaced minutes earlier by Deepesh Dalal, although he was cast in the unfamiliar role of flanker.

Again, Ignatians continued to be the little voices in this game. Struggling to make themselves heard, they wasted two chances to make inroads from catch-and-drive attempts close to the opposition line; and on the second attempt their isolationist approach was punished in full as they suffered the indignity of having the ball stripped clean from their grasp.

Consequently, Ignatians had to make sight of the Hammersmith running the ball back at them, and, in this sense, the screams of frustration from one of the visiting forwards said it all.

There were the odds moments and a Dan Savagar surge along the far touchline looked promising. However, Ignatians were far too easily corralled in this game, and Hammersmith struck twice more. From an Ignatians' 22 dropout, the hosts gained possession and, after getting behind the defence, they successfully worked-in Charlie Clarence-Smith.

The final hammer blow came in the form of a fourth try. After successfully wheeling the Ignatians' scrum, Hammersmith were given the put-in and, banking on the wide card, they again hit the target after inside centre Connor Naughton delivered the coup de grace.

The referee also blew up a few minutes early so as to allow treatment to a badly injured Hammersmith player, who was in a fair amount of pain after suffering a suspected fractured ankle. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Coach Emile Hertz said: "We are suffering from a lack of confidence at the moment. Good sides don't become bad sides overnight. However, we were outplayed and our kicking game left something to be desired. We also picked up a couple of key injuries in Richard Laurence and Tom Moore, and we had 13 changes from the Holt game, some of which were positional, and this also needs to be taken into account."

Ignatians resume league action away to Lowestoft & Yarmouth on Saturday.