Sat 12 Feb 2022
OSCAR RUNS WILD!
The Honourable Artillery Company’s proud unbeaten record in this league came to an abrupt end at fortress Legends Lane at the weekend in a pulsating and somewhat brutal match. Certainly the large crowd were treated to a fantastic game between these two top sides, maybe one of the best ever seen at the Lane over its long and proud history! The Londoners were intent on keeping their proud record and Letchworth’s determination to end it was writ large on the faces of all eighteen in the squad … heroes all and indeed four from the influential Johal clan. Also a big shout out to Jude Schoeman for coming back from Uni to shore up his home club’s forwards strength ... he did not disappoint!
Although this encounter was hard fought it was never dirty, but the physicality of the hits from both sides would have made the gnarliest of old props wince. In the pre match lunch President Brian Burke urged the supporters to bay their team on and indeed the crowd did become the sixteenth man, with shouts and urging reminiscent of the mighty cup encounters of the 1980s.
Letchworth had a strong wind behind them in the first half but it was the HAC backs who exploited their running game with more fluidity. Their outstanding fly half Jack Polson set up some great moves and after twenty minutes inspired an eighty metre try which was converted. At 0/7 it looked like the game could go to HAC’s standard script with a thrashing of the unfortunate opponents, but Letchworth refused to buckle and indeed were unlucky not to cross the whitewash on several occasions. One major decision that had an ultimate bearing on the game was to let Hem Johal kick for goal rather than go for the corner. With the wind behind him the young fly half made no mistake in nailing the three points which made it 3/7 at the interval.
If the crowd were worried that with the strong wind HAC would be camped in the Legend’s 22 these fears proved unjustified as the home side played even better into the wind. After several sizzling runs by Aman Johal, Arun Johal, Odita and Gurure it was the forwards turn to batter the visitors line, with Quarmby, Day, Turner, Hughes and man of the match Joe Allison to the fore. Eventually it was pocket battleship prop Oscar Robinson who dived over to give the home side the narrowest of margins … which they never lost. It was a big call on the conversion which drifted wide but now with the crowd in full vocal flow Letchworth kept out the visitors with steel and discipline. The strength of the wind meant that penalties were kickable anywhere in the Letchworth half. Even when an HAC player leapt into a tackle and was unceremoniously dumped by ‘Rambo’ Hughes, meaning that the hooker spent ten minutes on the naughty step pushing Letchworth down to fourteen, their defence refused to give way.
Mark Tate entered the fray and put in a good shift whilst skipper Liam Fitts was truly inspired. As time passed it became clear that Letchworth could hold out and nearly added to their score. As head coach Baz Basra pointed out afterwards … “You left three or four tries out there today lads!”. However he was more than pleased with his charges efforts and the great victory achieved against pedigree opponents. The explosion of relief and exhilaration at the end showed how much this game meant for both sides, with mutual respect and bonhomie shown in the clubhouse afterwards. Next week sees another tough game with Old Streetonians coming to Legends Lane and Letchworth will hope to revenge their defeat at Hackney Marshes last November. After today’s efforts you wouldn’t bet against it!
Harvey Howman, Conor Turner, Liam Fitts and try scorer Oscar Robinson celebrate a famous victory.
Team from 1:
Robinson
Hughes
Turner
Quarmby
Schoeman
Day
Fitts
Allison
Howman
Johal Hem
Gurure
Johal Aman
Johal Arun
Odita
Gibbs
Tate
Dell
Johal Jai
Report by Brian Burke
