Enfield Ignatians, starved of victory for three months, at last snapped a six-game losing streak after turning the tables on Finsbury Park 32-12 in the reverse fixture at Donkey Lane, writes Jonathan Landi.

Humbled 53-14 when the two sides last met in November, Ignatians were very much the dominant force on this occasion, having run in six tries (one of which was converted), but just as importantly they assumed a different persona in a statement win.

Despite a poor opening ten minutes in which they struggled to escape from their own 22, having also conceded a few cheap penalties, and leaked the first try following some forceful carries by Park’s patient forwards, they regrouped strongly.

Their body language vastly improved, they set out the stall via their dominant set-piece, and with Liam Horn imperiously ruling the lineout, they looked far more like the side that had begun the season in such promising fashion.

An energised Ignatians also improved their red zone efficiency, as despite playing up the slope, they sighted the line on numerous occasions, with fly-half, Calum Middleton, deftly stepping his man for the opening score as the ball was spun wide.

Ignatians continued to get in some dangerous positions and, another incursion into the Park 22, also bore fruit, with outside centre, Curtis Young, muscling his way past his opposite number for the second try, after the blue and golds had pulled play left.

Slightly against the run the play, Park, well prompted by their skilful fly-half, did gain good yardage when Ignatians coughed up possession, and a multi-phased attack, saw the gold and greens go over in the corner to retake the lead 12-10.

Unbowed, Ignatians surged into the Park 22, and although Sam Rushmer, lurking on the wing, was frustratingly and initially denied an almost certain scoring pass, he was afforded a second bite at the cherry, having successfully carried hard to the line after successfully getting behind the Finsbury defence.

From the platform of a 15-12 half-time lead, Ignatians knew that they had to keep the pressure on, and with their second-half game management also proving a big plus, they firmly shackled Finsbury by confining their opponents to a solitary visit to their 22.

Some neat aerial retrieval work from Ryan Loo, allied to some neat show and gos from the returning and work hungry Euan Renny, looking totally at ease in the unfamiliar role of scrum-half, set the tone, and the pieces of the jigsaw, as they say, at last fell firmly into place.

Buoyed, too, by the return of Frank Antwi, sin-binned late in the first-half (repeat team infringement), they also successfully punished Finsbury when they were reduced to 14-men for a slap-down.

On this occasion, captain Euan Renny, having fielded a loose Park kick, ghosted his way through some heavy traffic on the narrow side, and although it wasn’t necessarily the most obvious route, he was able to float a pass into the path of the lurking Henry Sibley.

Hugging the right touchline, the surging Henry Sibley [good support play], applied the after burners, and having worked up a fair head of steam, his irresistible momentum enabled him to ride roughshod through the last line of defence for a score which mirrored his fine effort against Kilburn Cosmos in December.

It was a game in which Ignatians at long last demystified the attacking maul, having initially got themselves into a right old tangle in an earlier attempt, when they frustratingly surrendered the put-in after working their way close to the line

On this occasion, they not only kept the advancing phalanx moving, but they also had the presence of mind to continually smuggle the ball to the back, before the excellent Frazer Briers, having made the decisive breach, was rewarded for his endeavours by emerging from the forest of bodies. He was later picked up the Mary Madden's Man of the Match accolade.

Finishing on a high, Ignatians cut their way through the middle following some more good attacking play, with the ball palmed into the path of the supporting Ryan Loo, who burst through for the sixth and final try which he also converted.

Head coach Gary Phillips said: “It’s been a long time in coming and is a brilliant feeling. There are some areas still to work on, such as discipline and decision making, but hopefully we can take the improvements through to the next game.”

Ignatians are away to Old Millhillians on Saturday 18 January.

The EIRFC squad: Cairo Sango*, Alfie Fordham*, Curtis Young, Ryan Loo*, Rondel Bernard, Calum Middleton*, Euan Renny (cpt)*, Finlay MacKay* (vc), Matt Pollard, Sam Rushmer, Henry Sibley*, Liam Horn*, Adam Moorley, Frazer Briers*, Frank Antwi, Emmanuel Okafor*, Ben Hammond, Ishan Tilakaratna (all used).
Tries: Calum Middleton, Curtis Young, Sam Rushmer, Henry Sibley, Frazer Briers and Ryan Loo.
Conversion: Ryan Loo (1).