Letchworth GC 19 Eton Manor 19

After the rains of Friday night the sunny autumnal day last Saturday provided a fine spectacle of rugby for two sides equally matched fighting it out for a full eighty minutes of pulsating rugby

Letchworth's one hundredth year is fast approaching and in all that time few games will have matched this one for quality and drama. On the half hour mark Letchworth were 19 nil down but showed great character and played some superb rugby to fight their way back to level terms. Indeed they could have won it with the final kick of the game.

Letchworth made a nervy start and an early knock on led to a penalty being awarded to Manor from the resulting scrum. It was a long way out but central, and the manor fly half Lloyd Davies fancied his chances. But the kick bounced back in to play off the post and Letchworth were quickest to the loose ball, with fly half Josh Sharp relieving the pressure with a kick to touch just short of the halfway line.

Manor looked the stronger team in the opening 10 minutes, with their outstanding scrum half Michael Sargent to the fore. Letchworth's scrummaging has been dominant so far this season, but after the early exchanges in this match they knew they were in for a battle.

Letchworth's first opportunity to get on the scoreboard came 15 minutes in to the game. Sharp kicked a penalty to the right touch line on Manor's 22, and from the lineout the ball went through the hands to find Tatenda Gurere on the left wing but he was bundled in to touch by Manor's covering defence. Letchworth then maintained the pressure in Manor's half, but it came to nothing when Letchworth were penalised for holding on.

After 22 minutes Manor took the lead. Letchworth knocked on in their own half and from the scrum Manor spread the ball right, left and right again to score in the right corner after a good offload by full back Toto Odulaja, who went on to be the stand out player for the remainder of the first half. A superb conversion made it 0-7.

Just a few minutes later and Manor's 15 now showed his scintillating pace to cut through Letchworth's defence and put his supporting 9 in for a score under the posts. The easy conversion made it 0-14.

On 30 minutes a penalty to Letchworth saw Josh Sharp kick to touch inside Manor's 22. After a good passage of play Letchworth full back Ben Palmer was bundled in to touch 5m short of the try line. Manor then enjoyed some good possession before that man Odulaja again burst through the Letchworth defence before putting his centre in for a score to the right of the posts. The conversion was missed but Manor had now scored 19 points in a ten minute purple patch. At that point it would have been difficult for anyone watching to believe that they weren't to trouble the scoreboard again.

Letchworth now had a real battle on their hands to get anything out of this game against such a strong opposition. A great kick to the left corner by Sharp after Letchworth were awarded a penalty resulted in sustained pressure in the Manor red zone, and another penalty soon came their way with the Manor miscreant shown a yellow card. Letchworth took a scrum at which Manor were penalised, and number 8 Tom Lewis took it quickly and barged his way over to score Letchworth's first points of the day. Sharp added the extras with the last kick of the half to make it 7 -19. Those 7 points were vital, boosting the confidence and belief of the boys in black and amber as they walked off for their half time team talk.

Letchworth made a great start to the second half. They were immediately on the attack in Manor's half, moving the ball right to create a great opportunity but an attempted tap pass by Chris Gibbs, on as replacement full back, to release the man outside went forward. Shortly after Letchworth again had another great opportunity. The ball found it's way to centre Will Titherington who cut through the Manor defence, but rather than use the overlap he decided to go on his own but a covering tackle brought a promising attack to an end.

The next 10 minutes were largely played between the 22s, with excellent defence by both sides allowing few opportunities. This passage of play was eventually brought to an end by an excellent 50/22 kick by Sharp to give Letchworth the lineout on the left touchline, but they were unable to capitalise.

17 minutes in to the half and some good play by Manor saw a rare foray in to the Letchworth 22. The ball was spread wide to the right and Manor looked certain to score until Gibbs and Gurere combined to shove the ball carrier in to touch, a great defensive effort. There followed another passage of play where both sides looked strong in possession but neither managed to penetrate in to the opposition's 22, until good pressure by Letchworth led to a penalty which Sharp kicked to the right corner. A rolling maul took Letchworth close to the try line and second rower Tommy Wilcock's strength did the rest to dot the ball down over the whitewash. Sharp converted to bring it to 14 – 19 and game on.

It was then Manor's turn to apply the pressure with another rare visit in to Letchworth's 22. But Letchworth's defence stood strong, capped by some outstanding counter rucking by hooker 'Rambo' Hughes to win the ball almost under his own posts, with Sharp putting boot to ball to relieve the pressure.

With less than 5 minutes to go Letchworth had still not given up hope of getting something from this match. More sustained pressure by the Letchworth forwards saw the ball moved left to Titherington who out paced the defence to score mid-way between the posts and touchline to the delight of players and crowd alike. The conversion to take the lead was pushed just to the right so the scores were now level at 19 – 19.

We were now in to stoppage time but almost unbelievably Letchworth were still to have one more opportunity to snatch victory. Manor were penalised for being off their feet at a ruck just inside their 10m line, so although central the kick was a long way out. The onlooking spectators were willing the ball over but alas it wasn't to be, with Sharp's kick again just going to the right of posts to bring an end to a superb match. 

Both sets of players were clapped and cheered off by the large crowd, the least they deserved for producing a match of such high quality. After such an enthralling game it is fitting that both teams remain unbeaten so far this season. It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone at this game if these two teams are in the fight for top spot come the end of the season.