Letchworth and Hitchin returned to action with significant victories.

Neither rugby club had played since the beginning of December due to the Christmas break and the snow and ice prior to the festive period.

But Letchworth saw off fellow promotion hopefuls Eton Manor in Regional Two Anglia, winning 13-8 on the road, while the Hedgehogs secure a comprehensive 41-12 success over Enfield Ignatians in Counties One Herts Middlesex.

For the legends it was the perfect way to prepare for the visit of Southend Saxons on Saturday, the side currently three points clear of them at the top of the table.

Eton Manor were never going to be an easy proposition, being the only team to have prevented Letchworth from winning this season after a 19-19 draw at Legends Lane.

The away side made a positive start and were only denied an early try when Dan Peasnell knocked on in a tackle, five metres short.

But they continued to have the better of the possession in the early going and were rewarded with just over 10 minutes gone following a line-out close to the Manor line.

Samson Ma'asi got the final touch as the maul was driven over the line and Josh Sharp kicked the conversion.

The hosts came back with a penalty from Lloyd Davies and 7-3 was how it stayed until half-time, even though both could have scored more had it not been for handling errors and infringements.

Letchworth's lead disappeared five minutes after the restart, Manor putting a penalty to the corner and then successfully executing the catch and drive.

The difficult conversion was missed though and the precarious one-point lead was wiped out when Sharp slotted a penalty from the 22.

Both sides then created opportunities to win it.

Another attempted line-out move from the home side was disrupted at the point of putting in while Sharp sent another penalty attempt from the 22 wide of the posts.

Letchworth also had a 10-minute period playing with a man advantage following a yellow card to Manor.

The nearest they came in that spell was when Chris Gibbs dived over in the corner, his joy at scoring instantly removed by the flag indicating a foot in touch.

With time nearly up though Letchworth gave themselves some breathing space after a high tackle by Manor, Sharp dutifully kicking the penalty.

There was still time for one more home attack but that ended when a line-out on the Letchworth 22 was stolen by the visitors.

Hitchin meanwhile are clear of Welwyn in fifth after the success at home to Enfield

They opened the scoring despite playing into the teeth of a blustery gale in the first half, a line-out maul initially repelled before skipper James Bolter surged over the line.

They fell behind to a converted score from the visitors, another line-out move that was worked wide, but by half-time had roared into a 17-7 lead.

A crafty grubber kick from Ben Wiggins and a foot race won by Bertrand Debeuf brought the next try and then Bolter repeated his trick from earlier for the next.

The bonus point-score came quickly after the break, Wiggins spotting a gap in the Ignatians drift defence, and were given a further boost when Enfield were reduced to 14 due to an injury.

The away team still managed to score despite the disadvantage and Hitchin were showing signs of rustiness, lacking a clinical edge in attack to make the numbers count.

That was until the final quarter and with Enfield tiring, a five-metre scrum was driven over the line, Frazer McGown with the final touch, winger Rhys Gregory showed silky finishing skills to go over on the left edge, and the seventh and final try was a powerful effort from Nick Panton.

Next up is a clash with top of the table Grasshoppers at Old Hale Way on Saturday.