Letchworth 4XV vs Harpenden 4XV
Saturday 15th September 2012
Have you ever wondered how or why it is that history has the strange ability to repeat itself?
Not necessarily in every minor detail but more, the general plot. For example, America’s Great Depression and subsequent Recession, WW1 and WW2, the tragic, yet eventful lives of Abraham Lincoln and J F Kennedy. The list, it seems, is endless. In more modern times, we have witnessed similar phenomena.Every bit as life changing but maybe not as Universal such as Flared Trousers, Curly Wurleys and our beloved President’s never ceasing ability to approach the bar with an open wallet. In every historical direction you gaze into, you will almost certainly encounter some regurgitation of past events and chapters. However, it is seldom that you will stumble across reoccurrences of tragic events which fall on the anniversary of its counterpart.
On 15th September 1977, Marc Bolan set off for what should have been a pleasant and enjoyable occasion with his girlfriend, Gloria Jones.Unfortunately, no-one could have forecast the outcome of this journey. A sycamore tree put an end to the career of arguably one of the country’s most entertaining and promising talents. 35 years later on the same, fateful day, Harpenden’s Mighty 4ths also set out on a short journey this time to Letchworth. Like Mr Bolan and Ms Jones, the Men in Black (and red!) were looking forward to the next few hours of fun, frolics and laughs. Little did anyone know that a totally different type of car crash was waiting just around the corner.
Arriving at Letchworth RFC with a strong side on paper,Harps took to the field with a level of confidence not seen since George Rolfe walked into McDonalds with a £20 note in his pocket. The game started and within 7 minutes Harps were in front. Forward domination resulted in young Angus Reed receiving the ball and dancing through the defence to score by the left upright. “Ding Dong calculators on!” Matthews conversion made the score 0 – 7 to the visitors.
Now was the time to turn the screw and it’s probably fair to say that Letchworth did just that. Assisted by some loose passing, and ball handling, our hosts, sporting what may arguably turn out to the handiest “4th” team in the league ran in two quick tries.
The visitors lost scrum half, Pursell on the 20 minute mark after his very own burst to the opponent’s goal line. It took two Letchworth players to stop Purse by bundling him to the touchline in a similar fashion to an Eighteenth century press ganging raid at Portsmouth Docks. Roy Orbison, the official for today’s match, had failed to notice that Purse’s foot could not have gone into touch as it was still jammed halfway up his back! “Lineout Yellow” was the decision.
Loosing Pursell was tobecome a pivotal moment in the game despite Reed’s brave step into the breech. Harp’s could not get their game together and despite some brave and ferocious tackling managed only one moretry in the first half. Luke Greensmith taking the advantage of a rather wayward Letchworth pass to score between the posts.
Andy Matthews – Harps’ much battered and bruised fly-half (more later) - placed the ball, took his customary 7 paces backwards, paused, took a deep breath, paused, one final look at the posts, perfectly balanced run up and…………..missed the conversion!
The second half was a much tighter affair than the first with numerous personal battles taking place all over the park. The summer fitness campaign of volleyball, French cricket and knitting had certainly conjured up testosterone levels not seen since Dick Emery’s ‘Mandy’ walked the length of Chiswick High Street and yes, “We were awful!”
Manager “No Drama” was certainly staring down an empty barrel with regard to selecting the Champagne moment, Man of the Match and Dick of the Day. That is until Gary “safe hands” Atkinson stepped forward. At 6 feet 13, the giant full back took charge of the ball, burst through a double-skinned wall of defence, side stepped one and handed off another. With only one more man to beat –Letchworth’s 5’1” winger – Big Gaz teased his opponent and offered him the ball on the 5 metre line, dropped it onto his trusted right boot and chipped it!…… straight into Jimmy Krankie’s outstretched hands. This was not to be our day.
This fact was underlined on the hour mark when another Letchworth break led to a straight sprint between the hosts’ winger and Andy Matthews. The result was not so much a car crash but a train crash. Matthews suffering a total knock out caused by winger’s elbow and the winger suffering a broken elbow caused by Matthews’ head. After a lengthy hold up to gather the birds flying round Andy’s head, Roy the Ref called an end to the game.
Final score:
Letchworth 4 XV 40 Harpenden 4 XV 12