Enfield U15’s: 50 - Chingford U15’s: 5

Enfield welcomed a Chingford Under 15 side on Sunday at Donkey Lane on a great day for this growing squad. A match day squad of 21 were supported by ten others training (some joined in later) and a few more will be welcomed back following illness and holidays.
Enfield started with plenty of possession in the early exchanges. Two of the newer squad members; Kian making his debut and Josh (new this season) made plenty of ground with slanting runs. Peter who rejoins us after five years also enjoyed plenty of time on the ball on his welcome return. They were all thwarted however by a resolute Chingford defence. Chingford rucked well in the first half and kept things tight. Enfield for their part played up through the middle and not always retaining the ball long enough to spin wide into space. However on ten minutes came the breakthrough. Under pressure the Chingford fly half booted clear. He got good distance but as we also said last week ‘he chose the wrong guy’. From full back, Sammy caught and made his way right across the pitch scoring with a trademark run that started on his own 10m line. 5-0.
We saw a couple of nice breaks from Chingford who were competitive in the first half, but the Enfield lads defended well. On 20mins came Enfield's second try. George goose-stepped one player and then as commentator Matt Gardner exclaimed ‘the goose got cooked’ as he went down from a high tackle. The scrum half got up and kicked deep into Chingford 22 from the penalty. The line out was secured. The maul rumbled. The ball was fed to Ollie G who broke two tackles to score under the posts. 12-0.
Chingford had a chance to get on the scoreboard moments later after Enfield failed to clear and gave away a penalty. In a surprise choice the opposition choose to kick for the posts but sadly the effort was dragged wide. Following a period of pressure Enfield managed to clear their lines following two good scrums from the pack and a decent run from Kian. HT 12-0.
In the second half Enfield stepped on the gas quickly. Josh had already issued an early warning to Chingford with one good run before he got another chance. The try was made expertly by Harry who delayed his pass to suck in a defender before releasing Josh to score. 17-0 (34 mins).
Enfield sensed the chance to take the game away with our half backs enjoying finding space. First new George ‘E’ dashed down down the touchline on his debut. Then our midfield linked well again from 10 to 12 to 13, with Ollie G surging down the line to score his second. A great conversion followed to make it 24-0: 37mins.
Chingford are rebuilding this age group and suffered three tries conceded in quick succession. All were scored by individual runs from distance. First Patrick from his own half. Adam scored through the middle. Then another clearing kick fell to Sammy who did the rest for his brace. All three tries were converted for 45-0: 44mins.
The away side however deservedly got on the scoresheet on 51mins, despite some good defence eventually Enfield were opened up in the wide channel. 45-5. All credit to the Chingford lads.
Lots of good things were seen across the park from Enfield with their tails up. Max ran aggressively and presented the ball well (see photos). Vinnie showed safe hands and protected the ball in the ruck. The pack responded well in the second half too with Daniel, Logan, David J and Archie combining and Harry DL trying out a new position at hooker. Berkay was busy all game. Leo secure in the line out. Nick likewise and made good metres in a run up the middle as did Ollie S stepping through players. All good stuff. Hayden was particularly determined in the carry and won a number of turnovers on the floor. He showed his skills too with a lovely over the shoulder pass to Vinnie. His winter conditioning break in Lanzarote clearly doing good.
Great to also see some new additions to the back line on show today. On debut George E, playing on the wing, scored the final and probably best try of the game. Good hands across the pitch from 9 to 15 made for a well executed ‘team’ try. 50-5: 57mins. Quite a day for this squad. FT 50-5.
Thank you to Adam, who having earned a rest then stepped across into the Chingford ranks when they lost a key player to injury, which left them short. Our thanks to Chingford and it is good to see them on the way back after struggling for numbers last year and we wish them well for the rest of their season.