Letchworth Garden City 26 - 22 Old Priorians RFC

On a perfect spring day for rugby a large crowd gathered at Legends Lane for this top of the table clash, with a hundred or so also enjoying an excellent pre-match lunch.

The number one topic of conversation in the clubhouse was whether the match would live up to expectations.

It did, and then some!

Priorians started superbly. In the first five minutes they had all the possession and their pressure was rewarded with a very kickable penalty just to the left of the posts, but was missed. And still they continued to come at Letchworth, who were struggling to get their hands on the ball and out of their own half. After some excellent handling Priorians scored their first try which was converted, so 0-7 to the visitors.

Priorians pace and handling meant they looked dangerous every time they had the ball. But Letchworth's set piece in the early exchanges was excellent, and their dominance at scrum and line out was to prove decisive throughout the game. On 12 minutes a great scrum by Letchworth on the Priorians 22 led to a penalty and a promising attack, but a knock on let Priorians off the hook.

Letchworth were now starting to get more possession and territory, and at every scrum and line out they heaped the pressure on Priorians. But after 27 minutes and against the run of play a great counter attack by Priorians saw their threatening right winger go over in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed.

At 12-0 down against one of the league's top sides playing some superb rugby, the challenge now facing Letchworth was a daunting one. But to a man they stood up, none more so than man of the match Harvey Howman at scrum half. On 30 minutes he spotted a gap deep in Priorian's half and in a flash was through before feeding the ball to hooker 'Rambo' Hughes who was providing great support on his shoulder. A combination of Rambo's strength and an outstretched arm meant he dotted down on the whitewash just to the right of the posts. Unfortunately fly half Hem Johal pulled the kick left so no extras and a scoreline of 5-12.

Back rower Luke Mongston can seemingly do anything. On 35 minutes he caught his own chip on the half way line near the right touchline and passed the ball inside. It then went through the hands out to the left wing where full back Arun Johal was on hand to touch down. His brother Hem converted to bring the scores level at 12-12.

Minutes later and after another dominant Letchworth scrum some brilliant offloading by centre Michael Waters and Arun Johal saw wing Luke Campbell crash over to the left of the posts with flanker Dan Peasnall clinging on and giving him a helpful shove. The extras were added so Letchworth now took the lead for the first time, 19-12. Only a couple of minutes remained until half time but both teams were attacking with such pace and displaying such good handling skills it would have surprised no one in the large crowd if there were to be further scores, and so it proved.

Letchworth won a scrum against the head but handling errors meant the attack broke down just inside Priorians half, and it was Priorians who were now on the counter attack. They spread the ball left and then right for the winger to go over in the corner, and a fantastic conversion brought the scores level at 19 apiece.

And still Priorians were not finished. Their outstanding number 8 somehow managed to wriggle his way through Letchworth's defence and only a tap tackle by Howman prevented what seemed to be a certain score. Moments later the ref whistled to bring a breathless first half to a close.

The second half saw Letchworth introduce forwards Joe Allison & Mark Tate and Chris Gibbs in to the backline, and they started strongly. Letchworth stole a lineout on their own 22 and a Liam Fitts charge led to a penalty on the half way line. Letchworth's continued pressure resulted in a Priorian's second row being given a yellow card and Letchworth a scrum on the 5m line. Again the scrum was won convincingly but a knock on meant a great opportunity was lost.

And then a score that would grace any stadium and which summarised Letchworth's play on the day. Priorians had a lineout on Letchworth's 5m line but the pressure Letchworth had exerted all afternoon meant the hooker tried a short one but was penalised for not throwing it 5m. Letchworth shoved them back at the resulting scrum, Mongston picked up from the base and it went through the hands to Waters to burst upfield and feed Arun Johal, who took it on further before passing back inside to Waters who's pace outstripped the remaining defenders to touch it down under the posts for a wonderful length of the field score.

The extras were added to take it to 26-19 in Letchworth's favour.

The mercurial Mongston tried a chip and chase just inside his own half but a Priorian's player got to the ball first with Mongston a close second, and he clattered him to the ground. The ref deemed the challenge high and Mongston had to spend the next 10 minutes on the naughty step. The penalty was a long way out but central, and a superb kick brought the scores to 26-22.

Forays in to the Letchworth 22 were getting rarer, and when Priorians did get in to the red zone Letchworth's defence stood strong. Mongston had only just returned to the action when an excellent jackal from him resulted in a turnover to Letchworth.

And a few minutes later when Priorians were back in the red zone excellent pressure from Letchworth's defence, notably prop Oscar Robinson, lead to a Priorians knock on.

Letchworth won a penalty from the resulting scrum and were able to clear their lines.

The final play of the game saw Priorians again on the attack but a great defensive effort from Howman and centre Will Titherington saw Letchworth win turnover ball and Hem Johal kicked to touch for the ref to blow the final whistle, much to the delight of Letchworth's players and the baying crowd.

So with this win on the final day of the season Letchworth take second place and Priorians remain third, with both winning promotion.

To put icing on the cake this great win also meant that Letchworth had beaten every team in the league, including leaders HAC, and they also secured an unbeaten home record for the season which had only been done twice before in nearly 100 years, namely 1960 and 1991.

After the celebrations had died down on the pitch the players headed straight to the packed clubhouse bar rather than their changing room to celebrate with their supporters.

The beer flowed and the craic was mighty long in to the night.

What a match. What a day. What a season.

No doubt these will continue on Friday at the annual club dinner with speaker ex-British and Irish Lion John Bentley.