Woodford 11
Letchworth Garden City 20
(London Two North)

THE Highams men slipped to a disappointing home defeat against fellow mid-table outfit Letchworth.

After improved performances against Tring and Ruislip it was hoped that Woodford would move a step closer to London Two North safety.

They did in fact start brightly and with the defence holding firm the opening signs were good.

But the match failed to live up to expectations and the visitors took a slender 6-8 lead into the break, with the home points coming via two Huw Levis penalties.

The second period continued to follow the pattern of the first with any good open play at a premium, with the ball rarely moving wide to the wings.

The hosts extended their lead with a converted try shortly after the restart to make it 6-15.

Eventually Woodford established an attacking position in the visiting 22 and a maul on the Letchworth line eventually resulted in a push-over try from Robbie Connell that cut the lead to 11-15.

But any plans of a final fight-back were ended when the visitors ran in a late unconverted try to make sure of the points.

Disappointed coach Peter Christey said: "After a very encouraging opening 15 minutes where we controlled all facets of the play we lost our direction and accuracy, we then proceeded to give away two very sloppy tries."