Watford 2nd XV 24 Vs 29 Old Albanians 5th XV

Man of the Match: Simon Tucker

Watford 2^nd XV fell agonisingly short of inflicting a first defeat of the season on Old Albanians 5^th XV.

Dealt a blow before kickoff, skipper James Sedgley was forced to withdraw, his neck prolapsing under the pressure of carrying such a tactically astute brain. Despite the devastation felt by all concerned at the loss of their inspirational, young, fit and handsome skipper, Watford were not discouraged as the mantle of leadership was taken up by perma tanned Paul Godfrey. Watford were also bolstered by the presence of the best hands in the club, none other than the grand pie himself, George Hicks, who has never, EVER, knocked on in 8 years of rugby.  

Showing excellent sportsmanship, Watford decided to allow OA’s to run in three tries in order to make a game of things. Having lulled the A’s into a false sense of security, Watford struck back. A series of drives bought the Watford pack within range of Albanians line, and with Mark Hill waving his arms in the air and screeching for the ball like a pre pubescent girl, Richard Munday snuck under the radar to dot down. This upset our illustrious visitors, who promptly ran in another try.

With Watford 24 points to 5 down at the break, skipper sedgley defied injury to walk onto the pitch and rouse his troops. He reminded them that they were a younger, fitter and better looking team than the opposition, and had in their ranks Grand Pie himself, George Hicks. All we had to do was get the ball to George within 5 metres of the line, and his excellent hands and catching ability would do the rest.

Inspired by Sedge’s bravery in walking onto the pitch, Watford took to the opposition like an England Rugby player to a dwarf throwing party. Speaking of dwarfs, it would be reminisce to not mention Paul Wilson’s contender for bosh of the season. Having fielded a kick in his own half, our intrepid fullback took route one and flattened the chasing winger with bone crunching efficiency. This resulted in said winger staying down winded on the floor for a few minutes, before promptly doing the same thing 5 minutes later, with the same results.

Anyway, back to the action. With Watford laying siege to the Albanians line, the dam eventually cracked and Alex Ford sped in. This was quickly followed by Simon Tucker scoring a carbon copy of Richard Munday’s earlier score, before wily veteran Gary Bridge burrowed over the line from close range. Left with a narrow angle to tie the scores, Scott Menzies showed unerring accuracy to slot the conversion over from the tightest of angles. With the scores tied 24 all, a grandiose finish was on the cards.  

Watford attacked, and lo! The pie did come to the fore. Sneaking out to his naturally position, the Pie lingered on the wing awaiting his chance. The ball was worked out wide with Swiss like accuracy and timing. George Pieface Scotch Egg Mitchel-Hicks, he who has never, EVER knocked on in 8 years of rugby and the self professed ‘best hands in the club’ waited, coiled and ready to snaffle the ball in his disgusting swamp trotters to score the try that would surely have won the game. Time slowed down for Watford as the ball spun gently in the glorious autumnal sun, making its way unerringly towards the Pie’s gnarled and blackened hands. Never had a more glorious pass been thrown in the history of the game, the cover defence was nowhere to be seen and all that had to happen was for George to catch the ball and collapse over the line.

George knocked on, the ball was cleared and OA’s ran a lovely length of the field break away try.

Skipper Sedgley paid credit to both sides at the end of an enthralling game. “all credit to OA’s, they showed great spirit to score towards the end of the game. It is always a tough, close fought encounter between us and today was no different. Best of luck to them for the rest of the year, and we look forward to trying to gain some revenge at their place.”  

Tries - R. Munday x 1, A. Ford x 1, G. Bridge x 1, S. Tucker x 1

Conversions - S. Menzies x 2