The Boys march on

Unlike the naonal side that had a prey poor set of autumn, internaonals, ending in the sacking of Eddie Johns, local lads, Letchworth legends are sll very much in winning mode.

The top side in North Herts playing in the highly compeve Anglia Regional league which includes such cies as Norwich, Ipswich and Southend have swept all before them this season.

Not only that but their unbeaten record of 28 wins and one draw goes back to November 2021 and the last three games have been absolute thrillers against fellow tle hopefuls Brentwood , Eton Manor and Southend Saxons.

Letchworth were on the road to Brentwood in early December, having beaten them on the first game of the season fairly easily. However, the Essex side are a different proposion at home and so it proved with a really tough game going down to the wire. A superb second half try by Will Titherington sealed the deal and the conversion made it 12/19 to Legends. They then weathered twenty minutes of intense pressure in front of a vociferous, and as far the referee was concerned, inmidang crowd but the home side were unable to cross the whitewash .

Two comparavely easy fixtures had to be postponed before Christmas due to the weather and these will now be played in February .

Aer Christmas things got really intense with a visit to the All weather pitch at Eton Manor in north east London . Manor were determined to restart their promoon push and go one beer than the 19/19 draw at Legends Lane in October. They certainly threw the heavy guns at their visitors …. One of their centres was a massive twenty stone …. But again Legends won through … and were grateful for the return of star fly half Josh Sharp who steadied the back line . It was front rower and club captain Oscar Robinson and versale hooker and Centre Sonny Maasi who won the plaudits in a ght 18/13 away win which effecvely put an end to the Manors promoon chances .

Next up were a very confident Southend Saxons who came to Legends Lane on January 14th on the back of a 45/15 crushing of Brentwood and Legends Lane was packed for the occasion

At first it seemed that Southends confidence was jusfied as within 20 minutes they had roared into a 13/0 lead and Letchworth were just not at the races . However the monsoon that followed seemed to turn things round and inspired by several bullocking runs from number 8 and man of the match

by Anita Martin

Tom Lewis ,flying winger Chris Gibbs went over to make it 7/13 at half me

With me running out it seemed all over for the home side before Josh Sharp spoed a rare gap in the Southend defence and slid over under the posts . Minutes later a vital penalty was awarded to the home side and up stepped Sharp to slot the vital goal and make it 17/16 and despite a thrilling finish that's how it stayed . Letchworth have now played Southend three mes in their history and have won all of them but by a total differenal of only 4 points ! …. 20/19. 38/36 and 17/16 …. no wonder the Seasiders were not happy bunnies! Especially as now Legends at the me of wring have taken top spot from them with a game in hand and promoon chances are now very much with them .

Exuberant Skipper Liam Fis said aerwards “I cannot believe I am playing in such a determined side who never know when they are beaten … they just do not give up !“

A more phlegmac head coach Baz Basra commented …” We have ground out two good wins but played far from our best … there should be more to come “

February will see three home games at Legends lane, Woodford (4) Ipswich (18) and Chingford (25) so come up and enjoy a great aernoon of rugby as well as watching the six naons on our big screen and cosy bar !

Not only that but the Letchworth Lionesses also connue to expand their squad and recorded a great win over Ampthill 31/12 the day aer the first team triumph .

Just to end on a serious note … Letchworth Rugby Club like most of the oval ball clubs are very much a community and family within themselves, last week a much loved member lost his house and all possessions in a disastrous fire. Fortunately the family escaped unhurt but with literally the clothes they stood up in. Over the weekend the club raised over £600 to help them with more to come and offered free kit to their children who play in the mini secon . Somemes care and concern is more to the rugby family than just winning ! …. Though long may both connue!