Super 2s Extend Winning Streak at Donkey Lane

If you were a casual fan of Finsbury Park, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Donkey Lane was the Mighty Fins home ground. Both the first and second XV returned to Enfield’s pitches to take part in the second double header of the season.

Despite the result of the last fixture between Finsbury Park 2s and Enfield 3s, it was clear from kick off that this would not be as easy second time around. Enfield started strongly using big ball carries and short sharp offloads to batter the park defensive line. However the Fins pack held strong and put in a number of heavy hits, Santiago Garcia led the charge with an impressive personal tackle tally. It quickly became clear to the Ignatians that their game plan needed to change, and instead they looked to the corner. This tactic paid dividends, as a driving maul was eventually able to break the Finsbury Park wall and go over for the first try of the match. 5-0 Enfield.

Finsbury Park were not, however, deterred. A ripped ball from yours truly led to a long kick from John Portsmouth. A quick chase from Luke ‘white Shorts’ Baldwin and Tom ‘Barney’ Barnstable saw tackling machine Santiago go over in the corner. 5-5 and game on. Park were well and truly fired up now, as was clear in some of the strongest tackling the side has seen all season. With a dominant display at the set piece, the backs were able to get in on the action with a number of testing kicks. One of which should have seen Luke Baldwin over for a try, if not for the first of two blunders which resulted in a knock on. Step up Stephen ‘The Caterpillar Cake Destroying’ Morse, who almost ruined a try himself by attempting to step an incoming fullback when he was roughly 30cm short of the line. Nevertheless he did manage to find his way over and, with the extras added by Barney, the 2s took the lead. The Fins then had to see out the remainder of the half with only 14 men, as John Musson was shown a yellow card on for a high tackle on the Enfield winger. Whilst Musson was at first worried this would lead to a DOTD nomination, he soon remembered that Luke Baldwin was also playing and the title had already been decided. Finsbury Park 2s went into the second half with a slight lead of 5-12.

Up to this point in the game, the 2s had followed Coach Chapman’s pregame advice to display attitude and discipline. However Enfield were able to make the cracks show and gain from their one man advantage, duly scoring from kick off and pulling the score back to a very tight 10-12. The remaining 30 minutes saw a number of strong plays from the Finsbury contingent in attack, but was let down by poor discipline which allowed Enfield a number of opportunities back into the game. However the Park attack was too strong, and soon enough Luke Baldwin was able to score following a fine piece of Fins attacking play. Baldwin could have bagged himself a brace, but sadly it was not to be as another try went begging with a simple knock on mere meters from the line. This confirmed Luke’s regular status as DOTD and kept Finsbury Park on their toes, as the closing minutes of the game approached.

A host of Finsbury Park errors and penalties awarded Enfield a final 3 points, but thankfully the 2s were able to hold onto the game. Their overall performance was strong, and it was a much deserved win against an improved Enfield side. The final score was 13-19, which extended Finsbury Park 2s winning run to 5 games on the bounce. Special mentions to Max De Podesta, for doing a solid job as a stand in hooker for the day, and Southgate RFC front row Jack for filling the self-proclaimed title of ‘Best Front Row in the Club’ in the absence of Alex Thomas.

FT: Enfield 13 - Finsbury Park 19

MOTM - Santiago Garcia
DOTD - Luke Baldwin (obviously)
HOTD - Jake Painter