It was dark, gloomy and the wind howled from the start but both teams delivered a feisty performance with big hits coming in from both sides in the early stages.

Chiltern were irresistible on the break and after 16 minutes Chris Jack split open the Letchworth defence to put Joe Butler under the posts, converted by Andy Fluker. Five minutes later it was Joe Butler again carving holes through the opposition to run in from 40 metres, converted by Andy Fluker for 0-14.

Near to half-time, a penalty kick into the corner was followed by a catch and drive from the Chiltern lineout, with the pack going over the line and Tom Handford taking the credit, again converted. Perfect kicking from Andy Fluker in the most difficult conditions and two more penalties saw the visitors to a 0-27 lead at half time.

No let up for Letchworth in the second half as a fitter Chiltern side playing into the strong wind soon accelerated away. Chris Jack, who had a massive game in defence and attack, on the break again to feed Andy Zair who made fifty metres before passing to George Wood for the inevitable try.

A brief ray of light for Letchworth with a long penalty, then taking advantage of Zane Turner’s yellow card, they won a wind assisted kick chase to score their only try of the game, 8-32.

Aaron Doyle, who was been combative and solid in the centre all season, went over for a another score. Then followed perhaps the try of the match, with Tom Handford taking on Letchworth midfield, beating three players before releasing the backs with perfect timing, then astonishingly appearing outside the winger to go over for a try in the corner. Tom is a prop!

Finally, it was so dark that we’re only 99% sure it was Joe Butler running from the half way line and going over for his hat-trick of tries. He has scored some fantastic tries this season, and many have been the first score in the match which is especially important.

The final score of 8-49 was a credit to the aggressive high tempo game Chiltern played with a big tackle count and a huge work rate from the likes of Zane Turner, Andy Zair and Tom Blackburn, making a welcome return from injury.

Jason Bowers, standing in for coach Richie Williams, was delighted with the squad performance, but it is tight at the top with only five points separating the top five teams.

Next week Chiltern are home to Chingford, with revenge for an early season sloppy one point loss very much on the agenda. It is a 2pm kick off and Christmas lunch at the club, so a festive crowd will expect no less than a big win.