Old Tottonians 1st XV 0 vs 3 Watford RF 1st XV

Man of the Match: Jacob Harris

Watford 1st XV notched up their first win of the season with a tense, hard fought victory over Old Tottonians. In a physical, low scoring match which saw 3 yellow cards the away side snatched victory with a last minute penalty from the boot of Man of the Match Jacob Harris.

Watford looked to attack Totts from the off, knowing that a controlled, aggressive approach was needed in order to compete with the much larger opposition pack. Much of the first ten minutes was spent in the centre of the pitch, with neither side conceding ground and a number of errors being forced due to strong tackling from both teams. The home side had the first chance to put points on the board after a Watford infringement at the ruck, however the penalty was narrowly missed. This served to wake the away side up, winger Bartram taking his team into the opposition 22 with a clever chip and chase. The attempted clearance was charged down, and Watford found themselves with a throw in 15metres from the line. From the subsequent lineout the Watford forwards were able to get a nudge on at the maul, and began gradually grinding their way towards the home sides line before being halted as the drive was illegally collapsed. A scuffle broke out on the floor, and with players from both sides getting involved the referee decided to bin both the Totts prop and Watford fly half Tom Kiely. Watford elected to run the resultant penalty, no 8 Lee knocking on at the line.

Far from easing off, the tempo of the game increased and Watford were fortunate not to concede a try moments after both binned players returned to the fray. A series of pick and drives bought the home side within touching distance of the Watford line, before a strong double hit from Kiely and Bernarius forced a knock on. Prop Gary Wilson hurriedly cleared his lines with a kick which surprised even him in its distance and accuracy.
Tottonians began the second half as they had finished the first, and strong work at the break down earnt them a second shot at goal following on from a Watford indiscretion. Fortunately, the penalty was once again missed and served to jolt Watford into life. The away side were beginning to exert a measure of authority at the scrum despite a considerable weight difference, and decent set piece ball allowed the away teams back line to run some intelligent, threatening moves which regularly broke the gain line. Following on from a break by Paul Wilson, Watford found themselves inches short of the line. Mitchell picked and drove from the ruck, being stopped inches short of the line, with Watford unfortunate to concede possession and good field position.

With the game evenly poised, tensions were high on both sides and a number of scuffles broke out, threatening to ruin what had been an otherwise well contested match. After taking matters into his own hands, the Totts winger was sent to cool off for ten minutes after throwing one too many punches. Watford managed to win themselves a penalty within kicking distance, Harris narrowly pulling his attempted drop goal wide.
With only minutes left, the game looked set to be drawn as Tottonians conceded a penalty just within the Watford half. A quickly taken penalty from Lee saw him make good ground before being hauled down just outside of the home teams 22, to the right of the posts. With the referee indicating that this was to be the last play of the game, the decision was taken to give Harris one last shot at goal. With all eyes on him, the full back coolly converted to spark scenes of jubilation from the Watford players and supporters.

Skipper Wilson commented that the most pleasing aspect from his point of view was the heart and solidarity shown by his players in facing up to a much larger, more experienced team. “Every man from 1 to 15 did the shirt proud today. This shows that when we work hard in training and turn up with the right attitude, we are a match for anyone. Hopefully this will be the spark the side needs to kick on for the second half of the season”. He also praised Tottonians sportsmanship, in allowing Watford to bring back on a substituted player following a nasty looking injury to utility back Peter Jenkins.

Watford: G. Wilson, Flint, Philpott, Miller, Mitchell, Bernarius, Bridge, Lee, Botha, Kiely, Lewens (Jenkins 41), Braun, P. Wilson, Bartram, Harris