Allen hails Luton’s ‘80-minute performance’

Luton put in another 80-minute performance to keep in touch at the top of the table and director of rugby, Paul Allen, was buoyed by his side’s performance, as he said: “The conditions were horrendous but we controlled the game and the final score is a little flattering to a good Letchworth team.”

Heavy rain fell throughout the whole game which resulted in an error-strewn game, but it was Luton who took the lead after gaining the better of the early territory as Rik Hobbs added a penalty from in front of the posts.

Letchworth responded with a penalty of their own in the ninth minute when fly-half Ansell added the extras after Luton were penalised for not releasing in the tackle.

The hosts regained the initiative on 14 minutes though when some good work from Tom Wilmore created room for Tom Albone to cross in the corner for an unconverted try.

Luton were in again 10 minutes later when Rik Hobbs’ kick trapped the visitors on their own line and they lost the ball in the collision five metres out as Adam Harris gratefully picked up the ball to score in the corner.

Letchworth got themselves back in the game eight minutes before the break when, after a strong driving maul, Mellor crashed over for a try converted by Ansell to make it 13-10 at the interval.

The second half saw few chances, with Luton in complete control of territory and possession for the whole half as Letchworth couldn’t get out of their own ground, but some resilient defence resulted in a scoreless second period.

“Letchworth have been our achilles heel over the last two seasons so we were really pleased to get this win and it is a nice way to end the year and puts us in a strong position for the rest of the campaign,” added Allen.

Luton are next in action on January 4 when they go to North Walsham.