Despite a number of injuries, Watford were able to field a strong side and were confident about gaining a result over a team they had beaten 22-6 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Hendon always present a tough, physical challenge but it was one we knew we would be able to overcome provided we play to our strengths and stick to the game plan. Unfortunately, Watford got off to a pretty bad start losing form players Jon McClennon and Luke Bees to injury early on in the first half.

The Hendon pitch is notorious – always heavy going and with a significant slope, it saps energy and is the definition of a side earning the ‘hard yards’. The home team were the first to score, a driving maul from 10 metres out proving unstoppable. Extras were missed, Watford 5-0 down.

The visitors roused themselves and enjoyed the greater share of territory and possession over the next 10 minutes. Breaks from Luke Hammill and Paul Dunlop were highlights during this period (other than Dunners throwing the ball on the ground when clean through), and it seemed a matter of time before Watford crossed the whitewash. Wilkinson missed with a penalty after Hendon strayed offside, but the visitors were not to be denied. A Dave Kingsford half break was halted, Gary Wilson stepping in at scrum half to pop to onrushing Martin Lee who crashed through to score. Wilkinson added the extras, 7-5 Watford.

Unfortunately this was as good as it got. In a game where the referee was becoming increasingly influential, Watford were beginning to find themselves on the wrong end of his whistle more and more frequently. Hendon slotted a penalty towards the end of the half to go into the break 8-7 up.

The second period was particularly painful to both play in and watch by all accounts. The increasing penalty count meant Watford were under constant pressure. Hendon’s fly half slotted an excellently taken drop goal to extend the lead (particularly impressive given the state of the pitch!), adding a second penalty soon after when Watford were penalised for coming through the middle of a ruck and playing the ball with their feet.

With the game in danger of getting away from them, Watford snapped back into life. Strong breaks from Wilkinson and Greyling gave them hope, however they soon conceded again. The Hendon fly half cleared his lines, the chasing player fly hacking through into the Watford 22. With both sides haring after the ball, the referee blew for another penalty for an apparent late hit. Rather than taking the penalty from where the ball landed, it was taken within the Watford 22. Ball booted to touch, another well executed Hendon maul seeing them stretch the lead to 19-7.

There was still time for us to get something out of the game, and everyone wearing a WRFC shirt gave it their all. Mark Hill left the field injured having put in a great shift, soon followed by Paul Dunlop who looked to have suffered a serious ankle injury. There were a fair few Hendon players departing injured as well, one would have to question the suitability of the pitch and the potential impact it had on these injuries (though to make it perfectly clear, this had no bearing on the result – same conditions for both sides, Hendon just played it better).

So, end result is a 19-7 loss. We now need a favour from one of Hendon’s remaining opponents, with no slip ups from ourselves in order to secure promotion. Can’t really fault the effort or application from any Watford player, we came up against a side who played the conditions and referee better than us on the day. Credit to the lads who played sick and injured – we have a break from the league now, time to heal and finish strongly.