Competitive rugby returned to Legends Lane after fourteen months on Saturday as Letchworth 1sts and the Lionesses took on their counterparts from classy Cambridge outfit Shelford, who until recently played in National 3. In a game played over four quarters the only thing missing were competitive mauls and scrums, otherwise it was a full on and quite often feisty encounter. Despite several missing regulars due to a diversity of reasons the Legends, led by a fiercely determined Liam Fitts, matched Shelford for the entire game and the backs, with the Johal and Waters brothers to the fore, showed some really silky skills. Tries came from Luke Mongston and Fitts, and although the score was 22/14 in favour of Shelford head coach Baz Basra was well satisfied with the performance of his new charges. Special mention must be made of young Mason Wiegand who at eighteen made his forwards debut and more than held his own against this bulky opposition.
Basra said “It was good to get this outing against this respected team and we look forward to next week’s clash against our Garden City rivals from down the road. It’s been great to get back to some real rugby despite the lack of scrummaging.”
The Lionesses were playing their first game of contact rugby and were naturally apprehensive about this in playing such an experienced side. Despite going down heavily they got points on the board and really played for each other over the entire match. Ladies captain Laura Czech expressed her thanks for the teams attitude and heart, as did the skipper of the victorious Shelford side. No doubt this will be a great learning experience for the fledgling Ladies side.
The game against Welwyn is from 2.30pm next Saturday 15th May at Legends Lane.
