BRENTWOOD 8 - 10 LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY

(London & South East Division One North)

IT was a heartbreaking end to a promising performance as Brentwood lost out to a late penalty to slip further in to relegation trouble. With Joe Cook back at scrum-half and Steve Killington in the second row this was almost the same team that gave such a spirited display last week against the league leaders, Staines.

In pouring rain Letchworth kick off upfield. Following a long kick to touch by fly-half Brad Burr Brentwood won a penalty but Burr missed the chance. But the side maintained pressure and the pack powered over the line for Joe Cook to gain the try the conversion was missed. With the Brentwood pack in great form Letchworth were finding it difficult to get out of their own half. With the scrum continually hammering at Letchworth's line the visitors were penalised and lost a player to the sin bin. Burr kicked a well deserved penalty to give them an 8-0 lead.

In the second half the visitors had recovered from their shaky start and play became evenly matched. However another bout of attacking play from Brentwood saw the home side camped on Letchworth's line, but unable to gain any points. In the third quarter there was no let up in Brentwood's play, now going up field. With Brentwood's pack denying Letchworth usable ball they were unable to mount any serious attacks.

With veterans Dave Brooks and Steve Killington playing a full part in the proceedings the pack continued to put in a gutsy solid performance supported by a well-organised backline. A break by Cook almost breached the visitors' line as the large crowd continued to voice their support for the home side.

However deep in to the final quarter the visitors won a penalty and running the ball managed to cut through Brentwood's defence for a converted try. At 8-7 to Brentwood there were just minutes left. A mistake by the home side – a penalty to Letchworth and the game was suddenly lost .

With despair etched on the faces of both the supporters and players alike this was an unbelievable and sickening result. To lose by only two points at the end of such a team performance when they had outplayed their opponents for most of the match Brentwood had surely deserved a victory.

At this stage of the season it is unclear how many teams will be relegated from the division but Brentwood need to avoid being in the bottom four at the end to guarantee safety.