A much-changed Enfield Ignatians side were knocked out of the Intermediate Cup first round following a 34-5 defeat by Hammersmith and Fulham on Saturday.

Under intense pressure during the first period, the visiting Ignatians struggled to venture out of their own half but could take some solace from the fact they were able to restrict their hosts to a 13-0 lead at the break.

A double injury blow saw Frank Antwi and Jet Masere withdrawn from the action, forcing another re-shuffle for the Ignatians.

However, the visitors got a firmer foothold in the contest after the break and dominated territorially after Hammersmith took a 27-0 lead. Ignatians did reduce the deficit slightly by mauling the ball over the line.

The home side did have the last laugh though, scoring an audacious fourth try thanks to a one-handed pick-up by Hammersmith’s winger.

Skills coach Steve Atkinson said: “We had quite a few changes compared to the previous week and the big positive in the first period was our defence, whereas we didn’t quite get the rub of the green in the second-half when we gifted Hammersmith an interception try.

“The fourth Hammersmith try was initiated by the ball taking a deflection off the shoulder of one our players, but the execution was quite brilliant.”

Sat in fourth place in the London Two North East division, Ignatians host Campion on Saturday.

Ignatians Thirds suffered a heavy friendly loss against Old Albanians on Saturday, going down 62-14.

Behind 30-0 at the break, the visitors returned rejuvenated after the re-start and scored two tries to haul themselves back into the contest. Rondell Bernard added one of them and Chris Byrne converted both scores.

The Under-16s began life in the Herts-Middlesex Division Two with a 12-5 win at Old Albanians ‘B’.