Old Northamptonians 26-35 Letchworth: Legends hold firm in thriller

It was a big occasion at Billings Road at the weekend.

More than 140 VPs from Old Northamptonians attended a splendid lunch hosted by genial ex Northampton, England and Lions icon Bob Taylor who had also been President of the RFU in 2007.

If Legends were overawed by this fine display it only showed in the first ten minutes on the pitch. 

The two teams had produced a fine encounter at Legends lane in December with Letchworth shading it 39/36 and Saturday was no different.

Legends having to contain a free running ONs side for the first half before imposing their dominance in the third quarter and seeing out a home revival in the last fifteen minutes.

Boss Baz Basra was full of congratulation as to the way his side had played singling out the two half backs, veteran scrum half Harvey Howman and playmaker Josh Sharp as his men of the match.

Llewelyn Jones also stood out up front and was a real handful for the ON defence . 

It was a fine but cold and blustery day and Legends faced a strong wind that pinned them in their own 22 for long periods of the first period. Josh Sharp learnt early on not to kick to the ONs dangerous fullback Struan Brooks who cut through six defenders before being brought down. Letchworth were stretched left and right before burly lock Heslop went over for a try. Influential skipper Liam Fitts hobbled off at this stage so things did not augur well for Legends .

However, as so often this season they did not panic and now tried to keep the ball tight and in hand . Howman made a fine break and when brought down illegally Luke Mongston took a quick tap and was over the line before the ONs realised what was happening.

Against a strong wind Josh Sharp squeezed the ball over so Letchworth actually held a narrow lead 5/7. The rest of the half was dedicated to restricting the young ON side and this was well done with only two penalties being conceded and converted to make the score 11/7 at the break and Letchworth could be well satisfied with their first forty minutes - while ONs must have regretted not capitalising more on the elements advantage. 

It was now Legends chance to exploit the strong wind and this Sharp did with aplomb.

They were soon in ONs red zone and their scrum was causing some creaks among the Old Boys forwards. Howman went blind and found Rick Streets who in turn found the try line for the first of two tries.

Sharps converted and nudged Letchworth into a 11/14 lead.

They were not to look back.

Another Howman break saw a penalty awarded for Sharp to stretch this with the boot and then young lock Ali Gibbs who grew in stature as the game progressed carried well - as Jones barrelled through for Rick Streets to touch down for a further score converted by Sharp to make it 11/24.

It was all Letchworth at this stage and now powerful forwards Tom Lewis and Llewelyn Jones drove hard for the latter to score and make it 11/29 with the kick surprisingly missed.

Legends seemed out of sight but in fairness to ONs they staged a fine recovery with some exciting out wide rugby leading to their winger Seymour scoring near the corner and a good conversion put ONs within eleven points. 

Aware of the danger of a revival Josh Sharp dropped a fine goal from a good scrum platform to edge Letchworth two full scores ahead at 18/32.

The Old Boys scored nearly from the kick off and then added a penalty to set up an exciting final five minutes later.

However Legends pinned them back into their 22 and when further pressure led to a Letchworth penalty in the final minute Josh Sharp wisely used the time to run down the clock and pop the ball over which turned out to be the last kick of the game and seal victory at 26/35 and another fine game between the sides.

It was also good to see the Letchworth seconds playing against their counterparts on the adjacent pitch and although they came second it was another competitive game. 

Now a break for Easter before the final match of the season against relegated Westcliffe on Saturday, April 6. 

Legends will need to be on their best mettle as the Seasiders only lost narrowly to second place Sudbury on Saturday and Letchworth need to secure a bonus point win to be sure of a third point finish - which would be a fantastic achievement in this high standing league after only one season at this level.

A large crowd is expected at Legends lane for this clash.

Team from 1 

Robinson 

Hughes T 

Stokes 

Jones

Wilcock

Mongston 

Fitts

Lewis 

Howman 

Sharp

Gurure

Streets

Parkhouse 

Staddon

Gibbs C

Gibbs A

Henderson

Valpy