Letchworth narrowly saw off Harpenden in a tight encounter in Premier League B on Saturday.

The hosts grabbed the lead when awarded a penalty stroke in the first half after Harpenden ‘keeper Ben Brind was judged to have blocked Letchworth’s right winger in the D.

Harpenden had dominated the first 20 minutes of the match and until the goal Tom Bunbury’s men had looked largely untroubled, with the home side’s best chances coming from isolated breakaways.

The goal gave the game a totally different complexion, and with the partisan home crowd finally finding their voice, Letchworth came out of their shell.

Letchworth’s second, 10 minutes from time, was a cruel end for Harpenden, who rattled the home side with a solid second-half display, lacking only in goals. Letchworth’s centre half, who was at the heart of all their best moves, played a dangerous cross into his centre forward who wobbled wide across the Harpenden D before striking a reverse stick shot into the goal.

The result had looked unlikely at the start, as the seemingly overawed home side defended deep and allowed Harpenden to come forward, with Tom Ward blazing over a good chance after only two minutes.

Ward was seeing plenty of the ball on the left-hand side up against a novice right-back. Ward skinned the youngster at the first opportunity and crossed for Russell Timms, who could not direct his close-range effort on target.

Ward then fired weakly at Letchworth’s goalkeeper from a good short corner play, before ramming the rebound against the outside of the post. Numerous other chances came Harpenden’s way, but just like the indecisive agnostic, they did not convert.

This Saturday sees Harpenden make the lengthy trip to Long Sutton, for a game they will be keen win and reboot their 2011 campaign.