THREES MAINTAIN WINNING MOMENTUM AS YOUNGSTERS COME OF AGE

The threes continued their rich-vein of form as their potent blend of youth and experience enabled them to avenge a prior loss to Southgate with something to spare. Although at times the blue and golds, particularly in the second-half, flirted with danger before eventually pulling the rabbit out of the hat, writes Jonathan Landi.

Captain Steve Renny said: "It was a massively important win for us particularly as we wanted to maintain our promotion push.
It certainly wasn't the most productive day for our backline, as we planned to bust up the middle via the forwards. We've got two tough games remaining, against Old Grammarians and Black Horse, and we will need to be on our guard. We've also got a cup tie against St Albans II and we've also one eye of reaching the final of the main cup compettion of our division."

Southgate, having triumphed 20-14 at the Walkers Ground, came out firing and had the edge in territory terms and possession in the first-half, but declined to finish off their chances, as both sides took it in turn it turns to cough-up cheap penalties,

Digging deep, the blue and golds repeatedly rescued the situation with the quality of their set-piece as they got their nudge on the set-scrums, which enabled hooker, Sean Bucknall, to pinch a number of strikes against the head. The ball-carrying abilities of prop Stuart Blemings also spoke volumes when it came to turning defence into attack

It was a also game in which the up-and-coming generation, Charlie Hoy, Ethan Renny and Cairo Sango,all showed up well. Indeed, Cairo Sango twice showed his lethal finishing qualities, and his pace enabled the blue and golds to break the dead-lock on 32 minutes following a fine solo effort which began in his own-half, as he fielded the ball on the 10-metre line.

There is no substitute for pace, even at this level, and the winger teased the opposition defence en route to try line, by
eluding three despairing cover tackles for a very-well executed solo score, which came gift-wrapped with Dave Conlan's conversion, as Ignatians reached half-time 7-0 up.

Making the perfect start to the second-half, Ignatians struck again within minutes when Manu Tuilagiesque centre, Ash Payne, running a very straight-line, bulldozed his way through a number of tackles before dotting down under the sticks. The excellent Conlan again converted as the blue and golds doubled their lead.

Alas, Payne only lasted a further six minutes after being forced off with an Achilles injury, and he was replaced by the experienced Clive Alexander who was soon in the thick of it.

Ignatians also made their presence felt with the quality of their driving play and they also had a lot of presence in lineout,
with the experienced Robin Ward, their prime source of possession in this area, and the industrious Charlie Hoy, both proving
productive in this area by winning a number of clean takes,

Granted Ignatians' superior forward platform, a five-metre scrum on the Southgate put-in, became another golden opportunity for Ignatians, when, not for the first-time, they took took one against the head. Scrum-half Johnny Cunningham banked right only for his effort to fall short.However, Ignatians, recycling quickly, weren't about to let-up and Robin Ward made the all important dent, which coupled to Conlan's fine conversion, gave the hosts what seemed an unassailable 21-0 lead.

Almost fatally, the blue and golds relaxed their grip and, with their play descending to the realms of the sloppy, they were hit for two converted tries as Southgate, having gone for broke, got good width on their game which was particularly manifest in their
first-try; while the running of a quick tap penalty close to the Ignatians' line also derailed the hosts.

However, the rot was eventually stopped. Just after Southgate copped a second yellow card, the visitors were made to pay again after a beautifully threaded grubber kick placed Cairo Sango in a one-on-one situation with his opposite number'; resisting the temptation to pick the ball up the flyer fly-hacked through and used his pace to win the race for the touchdown.

Conlan, one of his side's standout performers, missed the target for the only time in the game. From his vantage point, close to the gainline, he wasn't afraid to take Southgate on when the situation demanded, kicked well when the situation demanded, and his decision making generally was very sound in what was by general consensus, a good game of rugby.