Enfield Ignatians ended their disappointing run in London Two North-East with a 24-15 bonus-point win over Holt at Donkey Lane on Saturday.

The win was the Blue and Golds' first in five league matches through January and February but they enjoyed a sizeable lift from their Middlesex Cup quarter-final win last week.

Tries from Ryan Browne, Jake Bates and Keir Bonnar established a 17-0 lead after 35 minutes for the hosts.

A shell-shocked Holt, having dominated the first ten minutes of the tie when Ignatians' defence was seriously tested, came back strongly in the final three minutes of the half and tries from James Riley and Tom Jackson cut Ignatians' lead to 17-10 at the interval.

But the home side were soon on the front foot in the second half and although they should have done better from a five-metre scrum, they got their just desserts when Browne perfected the art of making something out of nothing by successfully chasing his own kick.

The ball bounced kindly for the chasing Browne and with Jordan Wilson adding his second conversion, Ignatians built a healthy 24-10 lead. However, their advantage was eroded to nine points after Holt's Bruce Van Poortvliet sniped his way over following some good work from the Holt pack.

Heeding the wake-up call, Ignatians finished the stronger. Centre Keir Bonnar, having made a try-saving tackle early in the half, twice played in Carl Asare-Anderson. However, the receiver was deemed to have over-run the ball carrier on both occasions and the scores were disallowed.

Browne also went within inches of completing his hat-trick only to be beaten by the bounce of the ball.

Coach Emile Hertz said: "We have a few key absences but I thought that the team did really well. Holt came hard at us, as we know they would, but we defended well before getting on the front foot and scoring three times. Although we dozed off in the final three minutes.

"In the second-half Ryan Browne manufactured a try from nothing and although we should have converted our other chances, the better side on the day won. I spoke to the Holt coaching team after the game and they felt the same way."

Ignatians entertain promotion-chasing Diss in the league at Donkey Lane on Saturday.

The Fourths lost 44-13 to Royston Seconds in Herts-Middlesex Merit Table Five.

Ignatians were in touch at half time and were only seven points behind at the break after scoring a try, two penalties and a conversion. However, Royston upped their game by scoring 24 unanswered second-half points.

The Under-18s continued their successful season with a 27-10 win against Ruislip in a half-term friendly at Donkey Lane on Sunday.

Tries by Dom Byrne, Charlie Hoy, Dan Hook, Gary Kemp and Gianluca Francioso, combined to a conversion from Alex Bucknall, sealed the win.