Watford 2nd XV 32 - 0 Hendon 2nd XV 25/11/06 |
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Watford welcomed back former club captain and fly half John Jenkins who is currently exiled away in the Midlands, I guess it's a bit nearer to his native Wales. He was added to a side which looked decent on paper, however their strong pack was denied the opportunity to use it's weight and experience as Hendon were unable to field a front row making the scrums uncontested.
Watford commenced the game, underestimating their opponents (who started with 14 men - two further players arrived after the start), and seemed to think it would be a simple matter of going through the phases and putting points on the board. The pitch was very wet on top due to the heavy overnight rain, however on five or six occasions the ball was moved cleverly wide, only for the final pass to be forward, or not to the intended hands. Both wingers had looked lively and capable of using their pace to exploit the overlaps and space but the execution continued to be sloppy throughout the first half. It was left to the returning Jenkins to score the only points of the first half, scoring a fine individual try involving his trademark twists and turns and also a drop goal on the stroke of half time to take the interval score to 8 - 0 to the home side. Harsh words were said at half time by both skipper Thompson and pack leader Ainslie as the performance so far was simply not good enough. Credit however must go to the away side who competed strongly and agressively and were quicker both to the breakdown and to support their team mates than a notionally superior in experience and size Watford were. In the second half Watford, boosted by the returning back row experience of Dave Mitchell (who picked up two tries) put together a much more complete performance with both forwards and backs combining to good effect. Further tries were scored by 'man of the match' second row Jamie Smith who had put in another energetic performance in the loose and was a safe pair of hands at the restart, and perhaps the score of the day from debutant Will Ryan on the left wing. All in all the score sounds comprehensive, however three of the five tries were scored in the final quarter and until then Hendon were well in the contest. Tougher tests undoubtedly lie ahead and such a slow start may well be punished by stronger sides. Watford - Vincent, Hicks, Gary Wilson. (Mitchell 40), Smith, Defoe, Hassett, Ainslie, Mullins, Thompson (Tucker 60), Jenkins, Ryan, Creed, Stuart, Terry, Frankish. Tries - Jenkins Ryan Smith Mitchell (2) Drop Goal - Jenkins Conversions - Creed (2) Man of the Match - Jamie Smith |
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