Royston U-13 18 Letchworth 24 ROYSTON played host to rivals Letchworth who fielded a mixed A and B side, at Greneway School on Sunday in ideal conditions for running rugby. With Letchworth utilising their powerful pack and hard running backs to good eff

Royston U-13 18 Letchworth 24

ROYSTON played host to rivals Letchworth who fielded a mixed A and B side, at Greneway School on Sunday in ideal conditions for running rugby.

With Letchworth utilising their powerful pack and hard running backs to good effect, Royston were forced into desperate defence for much of the first half.

Careless handling and spilt possession then gifted Letchworth the first try of the match with the conversion adding two further points.

A similar scenario followed during the next Letchworth attack when a dropped ball behind the Royston try line was pounced upon by the Letchworth scrum-half for a further five points.

With Royston seemingly unable to contain the powerful Letchworth backs, who dominated the play, a third try from the inside centre soon followed and Royston trailed by 17 points at half-time.

Clearly the break worked in Royston's favour as they started the second period with far greater purpose and a storming run by full-back Ben Doughty from a Letchworth kicked clearance led to a pass out to winger Dustin Hone who outpaced his opposite number to touch down for Royston's first score.

Letchworth responded with a fine individual try from their enterprising inside centre who ran from deep within his own half to touch down under the posts with two points added for the conversion.

Quick thinking by James Clare from a penalty on the 22 metre line, allowed him to brush off several tackles before crossing the line to double Royston's points tally. Tom Stone slotted the conversion to add the extra two points.

As the game moved into the last few minutes, Royston continued to press forward and a probing kick forward by Louis Boulter was chased down by the hungry Royston backs and from the resulting drive and maul, Clare was able to power over the line to double his try tally with Stone adding the conversion.

Letchworth were now forced to hold on and defend until the final whistle and ran out winners by only five points.

From a slow and uncertain start against very strong opposition who played to their strengths in all areas of the pitch, this ultimately was a fine performance by Royston, who refused to capitulate, and fought their way back into the match.