ENFIELD IGNATIANS...24 BRAINTREE...22 (London North East Two)
PLUCKY Braintree produced a much improved performance on their showing a week earlier but ended up suffering a second defeat on the trot.
The black and ambers were once again forced to field a makeshift 15 after losing several of their younger players to the new university term.
But their replacements put in a superb performance of grit and determination which should have been rewarded with the club’s first points of the new season.
It was touch and go whether Tree would actually be able to fulfil the fixture at one point due to their lack of specialist front row resources.
But youngster Matt Pickles, who bucked the trend by travelling back from uni to play, teamed up superbly with Chris Halford and veteran Matt Moore in a combative trio.
The visitors were put under pressure straight from the kick-off by an Ignatians side who are expected to be among the promotion front runners.
After winning back possession in Tree’s half they set up the first of a series of rolling mauls which were to prove their main weapon all afternoon.
The move ended with the Enfield forwards powering all the way to the line to enable Steve Taylor to drop on the ball out wide and give his side a 5-0 lead after just five minutes.
Eleven minutes later Ignatians kicked into Tree’s 22 and re-gathered possession from a line-out before setting up another rolling mall which ended with Luke Ellis scoring a second, unconverted try for 10-0.
But Tree weren’t ready to roll over and hit back in the 26th minute after Joss Adams punctured the Enfield defence following good work by the forwards who stole line-out ball.
A ruck was formed as Adams was tackled but the visitors got hands on and recycled to flanker Mikey Benfield who wriggled through to score an uncoverted try in the corner and reduce the deficit to 10-5.
And they drew level five minutes later when, after winning turnover ball in the middle of the park, they put together a slick backs move which saw Adams’ kick forward touched down by skipper Tom Carslake.
Half-time: 10-10.
After the break Tree changed their front row with Lloyd Hardin coming in at prop for the tireless Moore and the new scrum formation had to endure a sustained period of pressure from their opponents.
But on 45 minutes a loose pass was intercepted by fly-half Adams who sprinted the length of the pitch to score under the posts, Jamie Masters converting to give the visitors a 17-10 lead.
The portents were even better on 53 minutes when Tree won possession again and set up a superb move involving both forwards and packs which forced Ignatians into conceding a defensive scrum deep in their half.
Tree won the ball from the set scrum and after a few quick phases prop Pickles crashed over to score an unconverted try and give his side what had seemed an unlikely 22-10 lead.
But defensive errors meant the black and ambers were unable to hang on to their lead for very long, with a spilled ball leading to a penalty which the hosts kicked into touch in the corner.
Ignatians won the lineout and set up another rolling maul which ended with Frank Antwi scoring a try that was converted by Jordan Wilson to narrow the gap to 22-17.
Prop Moore came back on for Tree but was innocuously yellow-carded shortly after his return, and the home side wasted no time in making their numerical advantage count.
On 75 minutes Ignatians conjured up yet another rolling maul move which ended with Antwi grabbing his second try of the day to level the scores, and Wilson kicking his side to victory with a superb conversion.
Joint Coach Brian Joslin said: “It was a much better team performance than the previous week, and all the more pleasing considering we fielded a scratch front row.
“The front three were immense, as was Lloyd Hardin when he came on, and it was us who played all the rugby with Enfield being content to maul the life out of the game.
“Fair play to them, they capitalised on their strengths, but we ran them very close and if we can play like that every game then the results will definitely turn in our favour.
“It was very disappointing to see the game slip from our grasp like it did but I’m delighted with the commitment and attitude of the lads who travelled.”
Things won’t get any easier for Tree in the short-term as they face a tough local derby against a Chelmsford side who’ve already posted two wins at Robbswood this Saturday.
BRUFC: Abbott, Evans, Masters, Ladyman, Moore, Adams, Page, Pickles, Halford, Moore (Hardin), Apps, Fitzearle, Carslake, Benfield, Smillie (Richardson). RNU: D Crush.