Third Team Falter In Close Cup Match

As the only senior game of the weekend, the large crowd (for a 3rd team game) were entertained by a great game and some great rugby.

There was some excellent defence from the whole squad in the first half as St Albans came out of the blocks very quickly and kept on the pressure on the home side. After storming into an early lead they were 5 - 14 up at half time, with Enfield's points coming from Dave Russell, rumbling over following a period of forward pressure.

The second half saw a much improved performance with Enfield playing deep in the St Albans half. After sustained forward dominance, a quick unselfish pass from Dave Conlan (AKA Washington), saw David Togher go over in the corner (12 - 14). St. Albans were stubborn opposition and despite the game being punctuated with a number of injuries, their full back was a continuous source of trouble for the home team defence and following a miss kick, their lead was extended to 12 - 19. However Enfield continued to press and after some slick passes from ex-colt Alex Bucknall (pictured), a sublime long pass reached the ever waiting Chris Lyons to go over with room to spare. Then a penalty by Sam Barnes and Enfield found themselves in the lead (20 - 19) for the first time. This was short lived and after a further try by St. Albans took the lead again with little time on the clock and then hold out until the end of the game.

The MoM was shared by Alex Bucknall and Charlie Briers, showing that even though having not played for a long time, their quality shone through with some great tackling and probing runs which troubled St. Albans throughout the whole game: proving once again the quality players coming out of the Youth Section.

Also, a special mention to stand in Captain Adam Collins, who after putting in some great preparation over Christmas has come back bigger and better.

Every picture tells a story? After much searching in a number of lofts and garages, it transpired the change kit was nowhere to be found so Enfield Ignatians opted to play with their shirts turned inside out, rather than skins. It did confuse the crowd and the match photographer for a while!