Sat 14 Sep 2019
Legends managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in this opener at sunny Hampstead Heath on Saturday when with only 20 minutes left they were leading comfortably 19 nil and seemingly in control. But then a series of unfortunate events meant a last minute win for the home side and enough drama to fill several matches ..Two Letchworth sin bins , uncontested scrums through Letchworth injuries and unavailability and a few dubious decisions including a blatant forward pass for the last home try meant new coach Dave Hynard and skipper Sean Flatman and his men emerged with a solitary bonus for their efforts.
There were some good things to take from this including a good shift by seventeen year old Jude Schoeman, the Letchworth line out in general and back play improvement and the fact that the Garden City should have won against a side who beat them twice by a good margin last season .
The first half certainly belonged to the visitors as an early break saw Jack Anthony and then Sean Flatman go just short of the line . Hampstead then enjoyed five minutes pressure but good defence notably by Charlier ,Cullen , and Jones kept them at bay . Lewis Waters enjoyed a good sniping and kicking game at scrum half whilst his half back colleague veteran Kieran Davies pulled the strings at 10. Young Aman Johal had little time to show his talents as he had to retire after only ten minutes with a knock but his replacement Tattinda Gurrere nearly got the opening score when he just failed to latch on to a raking Davies chip in the corner . It was another Johal ,Arun , who scored Letchworths first try of the season just on half time . Several drives saw the forwards nearly go over but once the ball was worked to the powerful centre he went over with two men clinging to him . Lewis Waters kicked a superb conversion from the corner to make it 0/7 at the break .
However in the absence of a regular full front row there were ominous signs as Hatch had to retire at half time to be replaced by burly second row John Brain .
The first fifteen minutes of the second half proved to be Legends purple patch . A break by Gurere saw the ball worked to the middle and lovely soft hands by John Brain put Lewis Jones in under the posts . Waters added the points .
Minutes later Letchworth were back on the Hampstead line . Patient driving and retention by the forwards sucked in The Hampstead defence and Kieran Davies shimmied and went over for another score close in . Surprisingly Lewis Waters missed the conversion.... a miss that was to be costly .
The Letchworth scrum was now starting to creak badly . Brain had to go off and an injured Hatch had to return and with hooker Cullen also carrying an injury the Letchworth physio Keely Birch was the busiest person on the field at this stage of the game !
Hampstead exploited this situation to the full and from a penalty scrum scored a penalty try . The referee was now throwing penalties around like confetti and not many to the men in Black and amber. However at last Legends gained a foothold in the Hampstead half and were awarded a rare penalty. Flatman elected to kick for a vital three points and with Waters having been replaced by Howman at scrum half it was down to Kieran Davies to take the kick . It dropped just below the bar and was to be Legends last realistic chance of points . Cullen now had to retire after another fine carry and then Hatch ( loose boot ) and. Gurere ( deliberate knock on )were carded in quick succession. With Letchworth down to 13 Hampstead worked a good move through the centres and it was now 14/19 with ten minutes left
Legends tried to bottle up the home side in their own 22 and for several phases this worked well . However Hampstead showed flashes of last seasons class back play as they worked their way out of defence and down the length of the field only to be denied by a last ditch and brave tackle by Joe Allison . With the referee now penalising Legends remorselessly mainly for justified infringements it was set up for a dramatic ending .
Unfortunately for legends it was more Macbeth than Book of Mormon as Hampstead secured two penalty scrums . It seemed another penalty try was on the cards but now Hampstead moved the ball wide. The long looped pass to the wing looked very much forward but to the consternation of the travelling faithful it was allowed and the further two points from the conversion were the final nails in the Letchworth coffin. There was just time for a restart a great hanging drop out by Davies but despite Schoemans efforts Hampstead retained possession and the points.
With other games in this first round showing how tight and competitive this league will be the Letchworth management need be under no illusions that there is plenty of hard work to do .?But today did prove that the talent is there to be exploited and then the team can hopefully reap rewards as this season progresse.
TEAM from one
Robinson O
Cullen
Hatch
Brain
Schoenman
Jones L
Charlier
Flatman (C)
Waters
Davies K
Anthony
Johal Aman
Johal Arun
Kitson
Davies J
Subs ....
Allison
Howman
Gurere
Head Coach
D Hynard
Assist coaches
J Johal
K Lewis
Manager
M Mackay
Physio
Ms K Birch
There is a HOME game against FULLERS next week and a lunch to celebrate the life of GORDON COLLY COLLISON and the opening of COLLY Corner
Lunch is one for one thirty - three courses, wine and raffle £25
Get your pals and get a table up to support the boys! And the memory of Gordon who was associated with the club for over eighty years.
Please reply to me before Wednesday evening
Cheers
El Prez
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