Sat 13 Dec 2025
Seasonal Joy at Legends Lane as Sharpy and Co Take Revenge!
It was all cheer at Letchworth on Saturday as what had been a close encounter for over fifty minutes turned into a rout in the last quarter, with influential skipper Josh Sharp bagging twenty of the unanswered thirty five points as North Walsham had been leading 10-12 at one stage.
However, it was not just the captains day but another fine performance from hooker Tim Hughes on his fiftieth cap, veteran forward Luke Mongston, centre Charlie Parkhouse and the return of Kwaku Asiedu that also caught the eye. Once again the younger Parkhouse was also in rampant form to the delight of the 160 diners and several hundred more that swelled the seasonal crowd at Legends Lane.
At first it looked as it would be one way traffic for the home side despite an early hamstring pull for electric full back Brendon Marume, who limped from the field early on. A penalty to the corner by Sharp was followed by several forward drives at the Walsham line and then a mighty thirty metre pass to Josh Parkhouse from the captain saw the young winger over in the corner to keep up his impressive scoring rate.
Minutes later, having suffered a yellow card for several infringements, the Walsham defence was breached again by Charlie Parkhouse, who waltzed through to set Asiedu free to score his first try after his seven month layoff.
A lesser side might have buckled at this point but not the best side in the county of Norfolk, who roared back with a vengeance! After a great handling move centre Bryan went in under the posts. Surprisingly the ever reliable kicker Magnus, who had kicked everything in September, missed a sitter. No matter, as minutes later a Letchworth break out was turned on its head as Asiedus pass was intercepted by full back Symons, who ran half the length of the pitch to go in under the posts for a seven pointer.
With their noses in front North Walsham withstood some severe Letchworth pressure. However, at last after the forwards had tried to breach the line, a pin perfect pass from scrum half Tom Aviss found Josh Sharp running a great line to go in under the posts to make it 17/12 at the break, though in the last minute of the half flanker Liam Fitts was somewhat harshly carded.
After the break Walsham again threatened the Letchworth line for the first ten minutes. They nearly scored in the corner but their winger was bundled out near the line, which in turn led to a bit of a bundle off the ball which was in keeping with a feisty though not dirty encounter.
However, Legends were now coming to terms with their awkward opponents and now in the red zone pack leader Llewelyn Jones went over for a try converted by Sharp. The Walsham second row Holmwood, who up to now had had a fine game, was sin binned and the wheels began to come off. A great break by Chris Gibbs found Luke Mongston, whose well timed pass put replacement flanker Frazer McGown over. After several more attacks Charlie Parkhouse again cut through to give his brother Josh a clear run in.
It was game over for a somewhat shell shocked Walsham side though they had one more reasonable attack which was snuffed out by the Letchworth defence. It was left to Josh Sharp to add closure with a sniping run going in under the posts to make it 45/12 at no side and for the festivities to begin in the club house with the Two Divas on top form!
Next week sees a trip to local rivals Hertford, who will be desperate for a win to buoy up their disappointing campaign, and then a break till 10 th Jan with an away trip to Sudbury.
The 1924s went down by a whisker 33/31 at Tabard… who would have thought twenty years ago that the mighty Radlett side would be playing Letchworth’s second team in league rugby!? A lesson that success does not last forever but while it’s happening let’s seize it with both hands!
Team from 1: Robinson, Hughes, Turner, Jones (vc), Green, Mongston, Fitts, Lewis, Aviss, Sharp (c), Parkhouse J, Parkhouse C, Trimble, Gibbs, Marume
Replacements: McGown, Walker, Asiedu
