The summer covers came off at Enfield Ignatians as the London Two North-West side picked up the pace by staging an interclub trial game under lights at Donkey Lane last Thursday (August 16).

A certain ring rustiness was evident as, despite plenty of good endeavour, and the final passes didn’t always stick, the B team (was it ever thus?) mastered their A side counterparts six tries to three.

Not that this was ever really a probables versus the possibles contest, as coach Shane Manning experimented with different combinations during a game split over four quarters of 20 minutes.

The positives, though, were tangible as a number of the established order, in new slimline version, put themselves about as did the younger elements such as Angelo Dineen and Fadee Fayaz.

The new recruits, too, also slotted in seamlessly and, clearly, they have added depth to the squad by putting their hands up for selection.

He said: “It was a good chance to see 60 plus players perform {in a match type situation) and, as a club, I think we got a lot out of the exercise.

“The potential of the first-team players really stood out and, the next step, will be to watch
a video of the trial at our rugby camp day (Saturday, August 18) before enjoying a barbecue.

“The trial game marked the end of pre-season and, we will now pick up the pace, as we
continue to train twice weekly.

“We have a friendly at Braintree on Friday, August 24, and, at this stage, I’m thinking in terms of travelling {to Essex} with a squad of 23.”