FRIENDLY: NOVEMBER 1
UNDER 15S HINT AT FURTHER IMPROVEMENT AS CHESHUNT DOMINATE
ENFIELD IGNATIANS U15s 19 CHESHUNT U 15S 66
It’s taken a while but, finally, the Enfield Ignatians U15s side left dry dock and sallied forth on to a muddy home pitch where a very slick Cheshunt outfit ruled the roost 66-17 last Friday (November 1). Uncannily, the outcome was almost identical to the last time the two sides met in the spring, and which resulted in an emphatic 64-17 win for the green and whites.
However, coach Gareth Williams is keen to build on this foundation and sooner rather than later. “We have a game lined up against Chess Valley on November 17. I thought it was a really good performance and we stuck at it,” he said.
There were a number of sterling contributions, including Ben Cawte-Davey (all round performance), Alfie Smith, Rhys Williams, Matthew Amatino, Samiran Naidoo (tackling), Constantino Charalambous and Louis Caldwell.
However, the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story as the ring-rusty blue and golds, playing their first game of the season, were predictably caught cold at times.
Nowhere was this more evident in the opening ten minutes when the visitors ran amok by roaring into a 21-0 lead, but Ignatians rallied and enjoyed their most productive spell of the game before half-time.
It led to a splendid team try in which the forwards exerted some good pressure, before the ball travelled through four pair of hands which created the overlap, as the blue and golds successfully outflanked the visitors.
Cheshunt did collect a further try before half-time. However, Ignatians will reflect that they had performed tolerably well, and although they struggled to cope with the pace of the visitors, they were by no means out of it at 28-5 down.
The bill could have higher still were it not for a stunning-try saving tackle close to his own line from Ben Cawte-Davey: the standout performer of his side.
Gareth Williams’s half-time talk centred around the need to deliver a performance rather than a result, but the message wasn’t heeded as Cheshunt cut loose and added a further six tries to the ledger.
However, Ignatians mounted a late rally and they finished on a high by running-in a brace of second-half tries. On the proviso that they can secure more game time, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t progress.