Watford 2nd’s 12 v 5 Old Albanians 5th

Man of the Match: James Dorricott

The Watford front 8 experienced difficulty in the opening minutes, trying to hold a more experienced and heavier Albanian pack.  Ball was being secured well by the hook, yet the delivery to the back of the scrum was precarious.  After one such scrum a scuffle had broken outresulting in both Gary Bridge and the OA player involved being binned for the subsequent 10 minutes.

The game was hotly contested in the middle of the park, both sides making great efforts in attack and defence.  The game was broken by good running from Old Albanians, down the Watford blind side, breaking tackles and good offloading led to a ruck on the 5m line, from which a thinly spread Watford defence could not stop the touch down in the corner, leading to an Albanians 5-0 lead.

This led to Watford once again upping their game and pinning old Albanians back into their own 22.  Constant pressure from the Watford attacking line led to a defensive kick from OAs landing in winger Joel Gilmore’s hands.  Superb running from Gilmore led to him skinning the opposition on the outside, before a last ditch defensive tackle landed high against him.  The try was allowed to stand, Miller converted.

This led Watford going in to the break 2 points ahead and looking forward to increasing the ante in the second half.  From the get go Watford looked dangerous, with many runs breaking the gain line.

The second half played out much the same as the first.  Old Albanians came close to Watford’s tryline a number of times, with only stalwart defending and the willingness to put their bodies on the line earning Watford a reprieve.

Unfortunately, Watford’s scrum half earned a yellow card for being overzealous at the breakdown.  Gary Bridge stepped in to become an impromptu scrum half.

With only 4 minutes of time left, Watford managed to break through.  Fantastic interweaving play led to running rugby down the pitch, with a penalty being awarded for OAs not rolling away from the tackle upon their 5m line.  Connor Stevens duly rumbled his way forward like an elephant into bamboo, clattering a number of OA players before being hauled down just short of the line. 

Good communication from Watford and securing of ball led to Gary Bridge offloading to centre Andy Lee, smashing over the line to put Watford 7 points ahead. 

With the scent of victory in their nostrils, Watford played the remainder of the game at a furious tempo, equally matched by the opposition, not ready to finish their winning streak just yet.  Exemplary mauling from the forwards resulted in the ball being trundled down the pitch before being pushed into touch.

Skipper Andy Lee stated “I am proud of the performances of each and every one of the boys today.  Not only have we won what has always been an extremely tough game for us, we won it by utilising what we have been taught in training.”

Man Of the Match – James Dorricott for his extensive efforts around the park.

Tries: Gilmore x 1, Lee x 1

Conversions: Miller x 1