Enfield Ignatians were knocked out of the London and South East Vase after an 18-10 defeat away at Hitchin.

Despite beating the same opponents in London 3 North West action less than a fortnight ago, Ignatians turned in a dis-jointed performance that saw them exit the cup at the first time of asking.

Jake Bates and Wes Warren both scored unconverted tries for the visitors, but Enfield never led in the game as Hitchin proved to be too strong on the day.

Dom Nott had an early try disallowed for Ignatians after a knock on, and Hitchin were quick to make the most of the decision by going up the other end and winning a penalty, which was scored, and they quickly added a five-point try to burst into an 8-0 lead.

Ignatians lost two players to injury in the first half, including captain Dave Gear, but they bounced back almost instantly after the restart as Carl Asare-Anderson created space for Bates to race through and go over.

However, Hitchin responded straight away and scored their second try of the day to go eight points clear once more.

Six minutes from time, Ignatians were given another lifeline when Hitchin knocked on close to their own line, and from the base of the scrum, Ben Mills drove forward before laying of for Warren to power over.

Late in the game though, the visitors wasted an excellent chance to snatch the win, instead allowing Hitchin to break away down the right and score in the corner.

After the game, head coach Shane Manning, said: ““It was very disappointing but, to be fair, Hitchin were the better side and deserved the win. We will now turn our attentions to the next two games league games this side of Christmas which are against Tabard and Cheshunt.”