MIGHTY THREES SHADE A THRILLER

HERTS-MIDDLESEX MERIT TABLE FOUR NORTH-EAST

MIGHTY THREES SHADE A THRILLER

ENFIELD IGNATIANS IIIs 26 LETCHWORTH IIIs 24

The battered body of captain Steve Renny ached to kingdom come, and perhaps even beyond, but the discomfort will have been tempered by a surge of pride after the threes performed heroics to deny visiting Letchworth at Donkey Lane.

The captain said: “It was a great win for us and it’s now unto next week, and the game against St Albans. Hopefully, my body will have recovered by then. Stuart McClean (pictured at a scrum) made some fantastic carries and was he was our Man of the Match. ”

After establishing a 21-5 half-time lead, the threes were forced to deal with a barrage of Letchworth attacks in the second-half, and the visitors had a golden opportunity to win the game in the final minutes. Having eroded Ignatians’ lead to just two points, Letchworth won a very kickable penalty, but as befell Gavin Hastings in RWC 1991, the pressure got to the kicker who missed the sitter.

There’s no denying that rugby gods smiled benevolently upon Ignatians, as the blue and golds sealed a 26-24 win on the back of a dominant first-half performance.

There was an on-off feel to the game in the lead-up but Ignatians were very much on the money in the first half and, having won the penalty, they drilled the ball to the corner. The ensuing catch and drive attempt from the lineout was to prove successful, as Wes Warren, having peeled off, was driven over the line by the supporting cavalry for the first score.

Ignatians continued to be the first-half movers and shakers, and a strong run from Kacper Jaworski (?), saw him go over under the posts on his debut. as Ignatians doubled their lead to 14-0.

The Ignatians’ pack continued to take the game to the visitors, and a strong run from the evergreen John Georgiou, saw him felled just short of the line. However, the hosts were on a roll and Kallym Masters (?), on his club debut, battled over for the third score, as the hosts continued in the ascendancy at 21-0 up.

Ho wever, Letchworth threw themselves a lifeline before half-time by scoring in the corner to trim the deficit to 16 points.

The second-half was a different story as Letchworth emptied their strong bench and, this coupled to a good showing from their number eight, brought them increasingly back into the game.

The net result was a further two tries for the visitors who were now within four points, and very much in a mood to move in for the kill.
Some resolute defence kept Letchworth at bay before Ignatians struck the decisive blow, and the prime catalyst proved to be the returning Tim O’Toole, who successfully released Richard Carroll for the decisive fourth try.

Combining brute strength, and a bit of finesse, RC initially used his upper body strength to do the hard yards, before diving over the line, in a style reminiscent of Tom Daley, as the hosts gave themselves some invaluable breathing space. It's unclear how the judges scored this effort for artistic impression, but it mattered little...

Not that Letchworth were ever done for. They kept on calling and had a chance to win the game from a straight forward kick at goal, but the rugby gods decreed otherwise.