ENFIELD IGNATIANS, having made a promising start to the season, came crashing down to earth with an almighty bump after suffering a painful 52-17 defeat to Barnet Elizabethans at Donkey Lane, writes Jonathan Landi.

Never really at the races, Ignatians trailed 26-7 at the break, having claimed their only try of the first-half after Alfie Fordham went over in the corner following a rare moment of fluency, with fly-half Paul Duke adding the extras.

A rampant Barnet dictated terms throughout and, after twice breaching the line from the platform of attacking lineouts, they wrapped up the bonus point at the half-way stage by adding a further two tries to the ledger.

The second-half saw no immediate improvement in Ignatians’ fortunes, and they continued to suffer on the scoreboard as a rampant Barnet further extended their lead to 40-7.

Although Ignatians struggled to contain Barnet, there were a few bright spots and, either side of the visitors bypassing the half-century mark,
Alfie Fordham crossed for his second try, before Frazer Briers provided a late consolation score in the final minute.

There was also forceful display at centre from Ethan Renny (pictured) which earned him the Mary Madden’s Man of the Match.

Fly-half Paul Duke summed up: “Overall, we were off the beat for the full 80 minutes. As our intensity was down, our work rate was low and the front-up tackling was poor.

“Three tries resulted from missed tackles, knock-ons/ fortunate bounces which found their way straight into Barnet hands. They [Barnet] also scored a couple of well-worked tries from a well-organised backline, and had a good off-loading, free-flowing game which we couldn’t cope with.
“It was disappointment all round but hopefully it will be a blip [in the great scheme of things]. We have two free weekends in which to build [for the next game], and we will be looking to get bodies back for our next game against Finsbury Park.”

The defeat saw Ignatians, having topped the table the previous week, slip to fourth in the league rankings.