THREES PROVIDE THE ANSWERS AGAINST GUTSY HENDON

The threes had been targeting this fixture for a while and, in an entertaining affair in which almost 70 points were scored, they delivered although there's no escaping that they lived a little dangerously at times.

The early portents were good as converted tries from in-form colt Farhad Fayaz and Seyi Adeosun, coupled to the landing of a penalty, underpinned the early dominance as it enabled the blue and golds to claim a 17-0 lead. However, any notions that Hendon were about to roll over and tamely capitulate were knocked-on the head as they rallied with a brace of tries of their own to pull within three points.

It forced Ignatians to redouble their efforts and, in the second-half, the irrepressible Adeosun and Lewis White (following a good spell of forward pressure), both breached the Hendon line and sent their side 29-14 clear. The see-saw nature of the clash was again underlined as Hendon, via their dangerous centre, added two more tries to the ledger to trim the lead to five points.

It was all building up to a grand finale and, after Wayne Bloomfield's well deserved effort, Hendon again replied with a five-pointer of their own to stay within a score.

The game was only finally out to bed when Ignatians scampered over for a final try. However, there's no denying that both sides played their part in an exciting game.