Watford knew they were in for a battle given that the opposition ply their trade two leagues higher than the hosts, and indeed Royston showed their pedigree by starting the stronger of the two sides. Watford barely saw the ball for the opening 15 minutes, as the visitors dominated territory and passion. The Royston pack used their size and mobility to make significant ground around the fringes of the breakdown, with Watford showing an uncharacteristic lack of aggression in defence. The visitors were two tries up with 20 minutes played, and Watford soon made their uphill task even harder when Jon McClennon injured himself in the build up to Roystons second try, swiftly followed by Pete Nelson spending ten minutes in the bin for an adjudged infringement at the breakdown. Nelsons sin binning was punished with three points, however from the restart Watford finally managed to retain possession and string their phases together. With the pressure building, Watford let the visitors off the hook on a couple of occasions by conceding possession in the red zone. With Nelson back on the field, the hosts finally registered on the scoreboard with a penalty of their own to make the half time score 13-3 to Royston.

Despite having minimal territory and possession, Watford were still in the game. Unfortunately, they conceded a third try almost immediately from the restart. Despite being 17 points behind, the hosts pressed hard and forced their way into the Royston 22. Roared on by a sizable crowd, Watford looked to have scored a try in the corner through second row Dave Kingsford however he was judged to have had a foot in touch. The hosts were not to be denied however, and Andy Lee soon smashed his way over the whitewash to give Watford a sniff of a comeback at 20-8. Unfortunately, this served to rouse Royston who went back to using strong carriers around the fringes to retake control of the match. The visitors scored two further scores, Watford heavily indebted to man of the match Tom Kiely who made some outstanding last ditch tackles in order to keep a measure of respectability to the score.

Whilst disappointed to be knocked out of the cup, it is important that Watford maintain someperspective. Royston play two leagues higher and were certainly the better team on the day. However, Watford showed that in phases they can certainly hold their own in such company and were far from embarrassed. The match bodes well for hopefully playing in HM2 next season.

Watford 1st XV: Bees, Sanchez, Nelson, McClennon, Kingsford, Powell, Reeve, M. Lee, Hopkins, McGee, Menzies, Dunlop, A. Lee, Kiely, Butcher.

Subs: G. Wilson, Hancock, Portway, Yates

Tries: A. Lee
Pens: McGee