Christmas cracker- Letchworth v Stortford

A hastily arranged fixture sees us go toe to toe with Bishop's Stortford this Sunday. Rumour from our management is that it will be against a combined A and B side, but we will be leaving nothing out of our performance, looking to coming away with a victory from the last fixture before Christmas.

Leave Letchworth RFC at 9:30, 11:30 Kick Off.

Please make sure you are changed and ready to warm up for 10:30am

Lewis

'Tis the season to be jolly

Right, the Christmas get together this year will be held at the club with the U' 17s , on the 16th of december. The festivity will commence at 1 o'clock. £5 per head, bring your Parents, Girlfreinds and in some cases , not mentioning any names, Jack Anthony, Your Boyfriends also.
Please see Michelle Turner to let her know if you are coming, and to pay the money.

Lewis

Harpended Cancelled

The match against Harpeneden tomorrow (9th/12/07) is cancelled due to waterlogged pitches at Harpeneden.

Training tomorrow and Wednesday.

Blog In Use Again

Okay. so the blog hasn't been updated recently..my fault..lazy

It will now be used again so the u15s squad can catch up on news and find information about upcoming events etc.


Lewis

Close, but no cigar.

Having played Cambridge on tour a couple of years ago, and losing narrowly, we were up for setting things straight.

A delayed kick off meant the match started at 11:30. From the off, Cambridge took it to us. Some very strong forwards bashed it up and scored an early try due to our mistakes and their physicality.

Some more tries for the reds and injuries for us put us on the back foot going into the second half.

The second half started much better and although it was a weaker opposition than in the previous 30 minutes, there was some good play in both the forwards and backs. Good tries from Jonny, Simmo, Bean and Chris. The first of many we hope! We really fought back well to pull our selves back up from the 22-0 first half performance

With missed opportunities, needless mistakes and the fact that we were outplayed by a very strong team in the first half, but some promising play in the second half ended the game at
22-20. Well played.

We're off!

So, the season is underway, and a good start against a weaker than usual Barnet. Unfortunately, the match was abandoned with 15 minutes left to play, due to an injury to a Barnet player.

The action started at 11:00 am, and some good open play led to an early try in the corner for Tom Simmons. A good start for us.

Further Tries, included a fantastic long distance effort from Bean and a classic inside centre's try from Daniel Roberts.

More soild forward play and flair from the backs secured the 34-0 victory.

We would like to welcome some new players to the squad. Cameron, Chris and Tom have settled into the team well and we hope to see them performing at our club.

The start of the season

The season official begins on the 2nd of September which is this coming sun day. Each player will need to bring two passport photos of them selves as well as a parent or guardian who can pay their fee's and sign various forms.

From then on it's just sheer hard rugby.

Touch rugby competition

After two dissapointing weeks in the competion with two important defeats, things were looking down. However, this weeks win against Shag Nasties has pulled the team from the bottom of the table and in to the plate play offs. Some great play and handling despite the weather. Some great scores from Tom Ansell, Jonny Wheeler, Jack Anthony, Danny Roberts and Dave Hill. Great vision from Lewis and Alex helped to seal a good victory for us 11-8. Team Sharp next so a plate spot looks likely.

Well done all who played (and connor)

A Reminder From our Coaching Team

Just a reminder about Pre Season training. The first session will start on Wednesday 11th July at 6.30pm, at club.

Big Hits

OK, you may have seen the "Here Comes the Boom" video, and yes, there as some big hits, but watch this from the Australian rugby league. Yeah, you said it ...Ouch.

One becomes two...

As you may have noticed from the previous post , as Jonny is now captain of our squad, he is now an author on this blog. This means he can also post on the site. To see who wrote the post, just check the bottom of the section.

Touch Rugby

Another two weeks have passed and the lads are now up and running with a convincing win over team Goddard. There were some spectacular performances from stand in captain Alex Littlewood, Tom Ansell and Dan Bell. Although we struggled in our next game against an experienced side, FAT BLOKES. It was a tight game with some good tries but the lardy lads ran out winners.

Our next rival were the low flying Touching the void. A bunch of 3rd team players with a point to prove. We drew 5-5 but were robbed on a number of occasions by the ref. So great tries by Dave Hill, Danny Roberts and Jonny Wheeler. A good break by Connor Turner but he was soon brought back due to a non existing infringement. Better luck next time mate, (if there ever is a next time).

Today Tigger...Tommorrow Skipper

As you you know, we will be having a new captain for the 2007-08 season. It has recently been decided that our Skipper will be Jonny Wheeler. Lets give him our support and ensure that he'll be the captain of a successful side next season. Auditions are now open for the new Tigger, the roles of Winnnie the Pooh and Piglet having already been filled by Connor "Turnip" Turner, and Tom "is Ruby here tonight?" Ansell.

Next season's league fixtures

SUN 14 OCT 2007 11:00 AM
Bedford - Home

SUN 04 NOV 2007 11:00 AM
Wasps - Home

SUN 09 DEC 2007 11:00 AM
Harpenden - Away

SUN 20 JAN 2008 11:00 AM
Hertford - Home

SUN 02 MAR 2008 11:00 AM
Old Albanians - Away

SUN 16 MAR 2008 11:00 AM
Bishop's Stortford - Home

SUN 30 MAR 2008 11:00 AM
Ealing - Away

So, some tough fixtures lined up, are we up for it? Too right we are! Bring it on!

Missing kit!

Apparently some of our black and yellow 'easy-bags' jerseys, and some of our cotton yellow and black shirts have gone missing.... any of you that think you might still have some kit hidden away somewhere, have a check and bring it up to the club on a Thursday evening.

Touch Rugby League

We have lift-off! Our first match is done in the summer touch rugby league... unfortunately we came up against the U17 lads who turned us over 15-7. Buuuuttttt... they are probably one of the strongest teams, so watch this space in the coming weeks.

Calling all new players!

We are always looking for new players, in all positions. At the moment we have a squad of about 25, and would really like enough players to form an 'A' and a 'B' squad.

So, for any of you visitors out there who fancy giving us a go, get in touch with me, or our coach Phil Waters on philip.waters@btconnect.com.

You could be an experienced player looking to try a new club, or a beginner who wants to get into rugby - it doesnt matter!

And for all you existing players visiting us here... get off your backsides and recruit some new Legends! There must be a shedload of potential out there just waiting to be asked. Do it!

Pre Season Training

From Muddy:

Pre-season training for the 2007-2008 season will start on Wednesday 11th July at 6.30pm, at club.
We will also be training on some Sundays as well as mid-week to be fully prepared for the start of the season. Some training may be away from the club.

You should not wait until 11th July to get in shape. There will be hard competition for places next season so I suggest you give yourself a headstart by doing some strength and power training between now and then. If any of you are unsure what or how you can improve, contact me and I will formulate a program for you.

Presentation Dinner

The presentation dinner is on Friday 27th April, at the club. Tickets will be available soon for all players, parents and brothers and sisters. As in previous years, there will be awards given to player of the year, most improved player and the clubman of the year.

But how about those unofficial awards? The Michael Jackson Moonwalking award is shared this year between Jack Anthony and Tom Ansell and the Coco's Circus School award for Juggling is won this year by Bean.... Any other suggestions?

Norwich Match 8th April 2007

So Norwich had come down to the area to play in the Lexus tournament, hosted by Old Albanians.They won the tournament so were heralded "National Champions".

They wanted a match to end their tour, so they asked to play us. They came down to our ramshackle of a club, with our rock hard pitches and dusty car park, to challenge a North Herts premier outfit.

With the state of the pitches, it was more like a herd of rampaging wildebeests on the Serengeti (even without Jonno) than a rugby match.

Norwich started well developing a 10 point lead, though in the 2nd half of the 1st half, Letchworth raised their game, the defence holding strong, and some good passages of play in the backs, and some good close support play from the forwards. Despite the good spells of play, Letchworth failed to convert.

The Legends were up for it , and were prepared to go out all guns blazing to take the lead in the second half. The team-talk was interrupted by the Norwich coach Hayden Cocker, who has just recently achieved 500 appearances for Norwich 1st team - in contrast to our own coach, who has just made his 500th appearance in the bar - who asked if the game could be moved to a softer pitch, as the Norwich diddykins knees were hurting. Awwww. There was not a less firm pitch available, so we put forward the idea of touch rugby, to finish the second half.

Some of our lads, and the Norwich No.8, didnt quite realise that in touch rugby, you not going to get very far running straight into people.

Despite the lack of rugby brains, Letchworth were the top side to begin with. With some good running from Alex Littlewood and Dave Hill, the yellows were racking up some impressive tries.
A slight lapse in concentraton saw the Norwich lads cross the whitewash on numerous occasions.
Coach Muddy Waters could could not resist the temptations of pulling on the what was a skin tight shirt, and showing off his self acclaimed Welsh wizadry. It all went downhill from there.

Norwich picked up the pace once again, with Hayden Cocker in the arena, and the speedy winger went in for a couple in the corner.

The game ended light-heartedly, and we hope to have another fixture against Norwich early next season.

Tour Photos

lads, if any of you got the team photo on tour, could please send it to me at lewi_dwaters10@hotmail.co.uk as i would like to change the one on the site for a more recent one, if you have anyother good photos of tour, please also send those and i will put some more on the site

cheers

lewi

Norwich Match

For those of you who do not know, there is a match this Sunday (that's Easter Sunday) against Norwich. They are on tour in the area and are coming to Legends lane to give use a game. If there are any problems with availability, let Muddy know, or post a comment here

Wales Tour 2007 - Aberystwyth!

4 days - 5 matches - 6 hours sleep!

We came down on the coach, thinking it would by a 5/6 hour journey, it ended up being 8.

We travelled through the scenic valleys of Wales, densely inhabited by, yes lads, I know, sheep. We then arrived at Quay West Holiday park in the midst of the flashing lights of "FUNWORKS" where, once everyone was assigned their accommodation for the long weekend, coins were swallowed up by the amusement machines, and bars were swarmed by the adults of the Legends Party.

On Saturday, the swimming pool was taken over by a game of American Football - which ended up as wrestling - before the coach's ignition was turned at 1:30, ready to escort us to the fields of battle at Aberystwyth RFC.

First match, Briton Ferry - very feisty Welsh lads. They played well, but so did we ; the defensive barrier held strong and prevented a good side, who ended up doing very well in the tournament, from scoring. Final score 0-0. A feast of points.

Match 2-Luctonians, who ran out of "luc" against us . Although Letchworth did not live up to our high standards of play, new kid on the block, Tom "never let yer dog ski" came up trumps with a good bit of tight play to secure a 5-0 victory.

The last match of the day saw Sutton & Epsom take us on, bit much having to play two teams but there you go! The match was fast paced and Letchworth proved to be the speedier of the two. Final score: 10-5

The entertainment began once again around the bar and amusement areas. After the players'/ empty stomachs were refuelled, the fun began. There were tickets and tequilas galore. On stage were a kinky threesome performing some classic pop tunes. After their act finished,on come the DJ, and with music such as Fedde Le Grandes "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit", the lads really started to bust out some moves. A few of the lads minds were elsewhere though.. namely Liam Fitts ( though by the look ofthe picture, left, there is not much hope...)and Tom Ansell, who e clearly more interested in getting Ruby Sharp onto the dance floor, to get up close and personal in rhythm to the beats of the disco anthems. It was only when someone - Alfie Burkett I believe - requested some R 'n' B, and Ice Cube's "You Can Do It Put You Back Into It" pumped out of the speakers, that they got what they wanted.

Some fine moves were shown by the lads and adults alike, though there was disappointment when the disco ended. There was however one more highlight of the night. The sight of seeing Bean skidding down head first on the bowling alley, and crashing into the pins.

The next morning came and once again the pool was taken over by Letchworth u 14's, with mini basketballs flying all over the place. Many of the lads, including myself, left the water with red marks all over the backs, and in my case faces - they know how it happened.....

We had qualified for the cup, and our first game was against hosts Aberystwyth. They were a strong side, and managed to rack up 20 points, against our none. Tom Ansell's injury saw changes in the side, which interrupted the flow of the game. They took advantage of the wind, and they were bigger, stronger and faster. Although we were beaten, we came away with our heads held high.

The final 30 minutes of the tour were 30 minutes against Essex side, Woodford. Another disappointing performance led to a Woodford try in the second half. Letchworth fought back and managed to get a try, due to some great running from Tom Simmons , and close follow up play from Liam Fitts. The last play of the game came and Letchworth gave away a penalty. The scores were tied, but Woodford chose to kick into touch, signalling the end of the game. We were dumbfounded - it was a draw - though Woodford were celebrating. What we didn't know was that that in the event of a draw in these stages of the tournament, the team that scored first were pronounced winners. There was arguments, but those were the rules, we just didn't know. We would have taken the win if we had scored first, and anyway, we did not do enough to win the game.

The final was between Briton Ferry and Aberystwyth. Briton Ferry won 10-0. We were the only team they didn't beat!

So commiserations and congratulations to the lads, but that's the way things go. In the evening, we left for a hotel in town, to have a roast turkey meal, and disco afterwards. Mushroom soup for starters, but some of the lads just couldn't wait for main course, not necessarily for the food, but so they could get another look at the supposedly 14 year old waitress.... especially (and this is just for bean)... her boyfriend Mr Michael Burnett.

An award was presented at the dinner, for Player of the Tour. It was given to Greg "Butch" Hobbs for his ball carrying and crucial tackling. I'm sure you will all agree, we would have done a lot worse without the maxed-out machine.

The disco commenced, and again there was some fantastic dancing from the lads, notably Jack Anthony ( see dodgey picture, left... is this man a simpleton?) and his smooth moves. Another member of the Anthony family joined in with lads. Steve got up and got the lads going during "500 miles.". On the way back to the park a good sing song was in order. The chants were in the style of " We've got Fatty Burkett , in the back" etc.

The Sunday night was dedicated to a good nights sleep, apart from for the caravan that Fitts and co were in. A strange figure was lurking around the caravan, and they turned off the gas. Bush hunter Karen went out to have a look, but there was no luck though.

So the tour was a good crack and there was some good rugby was played too. We look forward to next year.