The threes continue to make a bold bid in Herts-Middlesex Merit Table Three and the securing of a 75 per cent success rate was made all the sweeter after the visitors made the short and successful trip to Bramley Road where they shaded the Derby fixture against Saracens Amateurs IIs by a decisive ten points.

These are good times for the threes as the side has just found a new sponsor in the form of Enfield-based Indian restaurant, Saathi and, playing in the new shirts which reflect this fact, as well as proclaiming undying love of the club president, the visitors' business-like approach was amply rewarded with two trademark pushover scores from try machine Chris Byrne.

Both resulted from close range scrums as Ignatians, having interpreted the early cloudburst as a good omen, were very much in the ascendancy in the early stages.

However, the blue and golds also fatally lost concentration and skipper, Bish Galloway, the author of a conversion, put his hands up by taking the rap for the Sarries' try which allowed the hosts back in the game.

Sandwiched in between the two Ignatians' tries, Galloway threw caution to the wind near his own 22, and rather than opting for the safety of the relieving kick, the captain unwittingly played Steve Emery into trouble, and the final act of the mishap resulted in the ball bouncing in to the hands of a Sarries' attacker who wasting no time in planting the ball under the sticks.

A change in personnel at half-time resulted in Xavier Babington replacing Johnny Cunningham after the break, and Ignatians had to survive a fraught third quarter when Sarries came out firing and really took the game to the visitors. However, a sorely tested Ignatians' defence managed to keep its line intact despite some rapacious assaults from the black and red backs.

Having survived the worst, Ignatians resurfaced in the fourth and final quarter when they played some excellent rugby. In one move, the ball travelled through a dozen pair of hands. However, a couple of near misses from Anthony Clare, and Galloway's failure to convert a straightforward penalty attempt on 70 minutes, kept the game in the balance.

Fittingly, Ignatians sealed victory with less than five minutes to go. Ignatians' fired up pack cheekily pinched a strike against the head, but were initially unable to capitalise from a prime position, until Anthony Langan banished any notion of white line fever by rushing in to ground the ball and make the game safe.

Captain Bish Galloway said: "It's a good reflection of Merit Table rugby that both sides were practising hard before the game. We have our routine in which involves hitting the pads hard. We initiated this against Hendon and it seems to work as we carried on doing this before the Sarries' game. It seems to get everyone in the mood."

Enfield Ignatians RFC

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