Never in their worst nightmares could Enfield Ignatians have contemplated losing three home games on the bounce at the start of the season, but this unpalatable fact will stick painfully in the craw after they let matters slip again – this time against Old Millhillians, writes Jonathan Landi.

To further put things in perspective, Ignatians were barely out of second gear to beat the same opponents home and away last season, plus the fact that for the majority of the game the more streetwise Old Millhillians were reduced to 14-men.

Despite their travails, mis-firing Ignatians could still have come away with the spoils after being awarded a last-minute penalty to win the game.
However, having cruelly lost their first-choice kicker, Paul Duke, to a suspected LCL injury, it fell upon winger, Alfie Fordham, to take the kick which sailed wide, as Ignatians were left to rue the lean pickings of a losing bonus point.

Caught cold in the windy and rainy conditions, a static Ignatians struggled to go the pace in the first quarter, and Old Millhillians, kicking and carrying well better than their opponents, struck first from an attacking lineout, having successfully worked the ball through multiple phases after the hosts had bent the offside line.

Playing in fits and starts, Ignatians eventually sighted the line and, following and some good work from William Bruce and multiple infringements from Old Millhillians, the referee lost patience and awarded the home side a penalty try.

It went lop-sided again when Ignatians’ defensive alignment was found wanting, with the hosts finding themselves in a three-on-three situation, but they also moved up too quickly and this enabled the right winger enough room to wriggle free and score.

Ignatians regrouped strongly in the second quarter and they enjoyed their best spell and, the quality of their kick chase, with Rondel Bernard prominent, shone through with the latter’s lobbed pass successfully locating fellow winger Alfie Fordham.

The latter, having opted to pull play in-field, deferred to the sanctity of his forwards, with the tight eight working the ball in-field through multiple phases before dynamic number eight, Sam Rushmer, burst through some ineffectual tackling to go in under the sticks.

Paul Duke added the extras and, with Ignatians firmly on the front foot, they struck again after some good carries (Finlay MacKay and Chris Langan prominent) before winning a penalty five-metres from their opponents’ line.

Interestingly, having declined to go down the pushover route, they opted to run the penalty, with Sam Rushmer again on the money, as the backrower successfully wrong-footed the defence by cutting back inside and forcing his way over after latching on to Finlay MacKay’s pass.

Ignatians had also threatened to go over again and, after sweeping right, scrum-half, Dan Shaw, feeding off Rondel Bernard, almost cheekily snuck through the unguarded blindside, and he was only thwarted by some desperate defence.

By rights a 19-12 lead should have been the passport to better things. Instead, Ignatians, far too penalty prone, had precious little terms of go forward in the second-half, despite a dynamic display by the Mary Madden’s MOM Henry Sibley. Even the introduction of the EIRFC bomb squad, Seyi Adeosun, Nathaniel Clarke and Matt Pollard, failed to improve the team’s fortunes.

Consequently, sightings in the Old Millhillians’ red zone were very few and far between; a situation compounded by some very poor kicking out of hand, with Ignatians’ openly inviting the counter-attack after kicking straight down the throats of their opponents.

Again, their defensive alignment went AWOL and, with gaps appearing, the visitors lapped up the gifts that came their way by working in the support to move within two points.

Sticking to a simple and effective script, Old Millhillians eventually landed the killer blow after winning a penalty dead-on to the sticks (off-side), with the successful kick laying down the gauntlet to their rivals.

Forced to come out and play, Ignatians, having crucially lost their first-choice kicker (see above), had one last gasp chance to win the game but it wasn’t to be.

Ignatians need to regroup fast ahead of the visit to west London where the tough challenge of Old Actonians awaits.

Injured captain Euan Renny, a frustrated bystander, said: “There were some good bits although the boys felt that they never really had the ball in the second-half. There are areas of our game which we really need to work on.”

EIRFC squad (all used): Adam Moorley, Alfie Fordham*, Curtis Young, Calum Middleton*, Rondel Bernard, Paul Duke*, Dan Shaw, Finlay MacKay*, William Bruce*, Sam Bucknall*, Henry Sibley*, Frank Antwi, Declan Linnane*, Chris Langan*, Sam Rushmer, Seyi Adeosun*, Nathaniel Clarke*, Matt Pollard (18).
*= Home-grown talent