Stockwood Park 2nd XV 8 Vs 10 Watford 1st XV

Man of the Match: James Braun

Stockwood Park 2^nd XV 8 Vs 10 Watford 1^st XV

Watford ground out an ugly win in a hard fought game away to Stockwood Park.

In a game littered with errors, the away side took the lead in the 10^th minute following a break from second row Andy Lee. With regular kicker McGee unable to kick due to injury, Dunlop stepped up and narrowly pulled the conversion wide. Going behind roused the home side, and they posed a constant threat to Watford with the ball in hand. The Stockwood Park 10 showed excellent game management and utilised his strike runners to good effect, the gain line being constantly broken. Watford were guilty of conceding possession far too often, the ball being kicked aimlessly with worrying regularity. Park eventually scored a deserved try of their own, the conversion missed to leave the scores level at half time, Watford fortunate not to be further behind.

No punches were pulled in the half time talk, and the team retook the field with a renewed focus. The set piece proved a lot more dependable in the second period, and a reshuffle in the backs proved highly beneficial. Lee, moved out to centre in place of the injured McGee, regularly combined well with Butcher and Dennies whilst Braun was a constant threat with ball in hand, having excelled defensively in the first half. Despite an improved second half showing, Watford found themselves behind for the first time in the game, a well struck penalty putting Stockwood 8-5 in front. The away side played their best rugby in the last 20 minutes, enjoying the lion’s share of territory and possession. Ford, Wilson and Reeve all came close before Dunlop scythed through the defence to touch down. With the conversion missed, the final score was 10-8 to the away side, a result which didn’t seem possible at half time.

Skipper Flint, whilst pleased with the result was not impressed with his teams display. “We were fortunate to win today – Stockwood Park were a well organised unit and gave us a real test. We know we can play better than we did, however I will always take an ugly win over a beautiful loss. There is going to need to be a marked improvement next week if we are to win our opening league fixture.”

Watford: Greyling, Flint, G. Wilson (Hicks 65), Mitchell, A. Lee, Dunlop, Hammill, Reeve, Hopkins, McGee (Tucker 45), Ford, Dennies, Cox, Braun, Butcher.

Tries: A. Lee, Dunlop