London 2 North West: Luton v Letchworth

Its been well over 12 months since the 'Green and Reds' got the better of any opponents and Saturday's performance didn't give much encouragement that the situation is going to improve anytime soon.

Luton conceded five tries and looked to be going into the Xmas break scoreless until a yellow card saw Letchworth reduced to 14 players. Suddenly, Luton came to life, scored one try and nearly adding a second. 

However for most of the match it was a backs-to the wall performance and the hosts were lucky they were not further behind before their late rally and the score by Denzil Edwards.

As first team manager Steve 'Taff' Evans put it: "By their own admission the boys weren’t really in the game for the first half.

"After a few words were exchanged at half time the change was noticeable. Defence in the second half was much better and of course getting points on the board were a just reward."

One relegation and odds-on to go down another league, these are tough times at Newlands Road.

With key players moving on since their 2017/18 promotion, serious injuries to several more and sadly the recent resignation for personal reasons of head coach Paul Alston has taken its toll on the team.
 
But the commitment and moral of the current team can't be faulted. Several players who thought they had laced their boots for the final time have come back to the fold and young players have debuted taking their opportunity to play at the highest level. 

Looking ahead 'Taff' added :"On to the extended Christmas break I hope some of those with niggling injuries can be back and fighting fit."

It can only be hoped that in the new year their faithful supporters will begin to see the first signs of recovery.