Northolt 1st XV 8 Vs. 38 Watford 1st XV

Man of the Match: Laurence Philpott

In conditions which were ill suited to running rugby, Watford started at a phenomenal pace, flying into tackles and dominating at the breakdown. Northolt appeared somewhat shell shocked, and Watford soon took the lead. Following on from a handful of drives from the pack, the ball was worked out wide to Oguntade who showed an excellent turn of pace to round the opposition and cross the whitewash. Philpott added the extras, giving the away side a 7-0 lead after 10 minutes. Watford were on the attack almost immediately from the re-start. Despite the rain, the away side showed excellent handling skills, with the interchange between forwards and backs both effective and pleasing on the eye. With Watford having spent nearly the entire game in Northolt’s half, a second score was inevitable. A solid lineout in the opposition 22 saw the ball worked out to Kiely, who ran an excellent line to find himself one on one with the fullback. Displaying a cool head, the centre timed his pass to perfection, giving James a simple run in under the posts. The extras were again added, putting Watford 14-0 up. The away side were threatening to run away with the game, but some plucky Northolt defence and unfortunate handling errors meant Watford were forced to wait until the 30^th minute for their next try, second row Mitchell picking from the base of a ruck and driving over from close range. Watford finished the half in style, a well worked penalty move sending Lee crashing through in the corner.

With the bonus point sealed by half time, Watford were guilty of taking their foot off the gas and allowed the hosts far more time and possession than they had in the first 40. Northolt got themselves on the board with a well struck penalty before sloppy Watford tackling gifted the home side a try in the corner. This seemed to rouse the away side, with fly half Hopkins scooting through  to touchdown following a break from Mitchell. Hopkins added a second from close range with the last play of the game, following good work from Cox and Oguntade.

Injured Skipper Flint was a man of contrasting emotions after the match. “If we play every game with the panache and flair we showed for the first 40 minutes, we will be a match for anyone in the league. Unfortunately, we spent too much time congratulating ourselves in the second half and allowed Northolt a try which, on another day, could have sparked a comeback.  That said, the attitude and aptitude shown by the lads was excellent, lets hope it continues next week.

Next week sees Watford 1^st XV take on Cuffley at Radlett Road, kick off 3 pm.

Watford 1^st XV: G. Wilson, Philpott, Hicks, Makinson, Mitchell, Munday (Pitsialis 40), Dunlop, Lee (Stevens 55), Bennett (McGee 60), Hopkins, Bartram (Portway 70), Kiely, Cox, Oguntade, James (P. Wilson 60)

Tries: Oguntade, James, Mitchell, Lee, Hopkins x2.

Conversions: Philpott x 4