A Tough Day At The Office

A youthful Watford 1st XV (and Bram) put in a valiant but futile performance in the opening fixture of Phase 2 in HM2.

Things didn't start well when tight head prop Martin Cunningham was forced off early with a nasty looking ankle injury after his first carry, necessitating a reshuffle in the Watford pack with A. Routley commendably stepping up to prop against a heavy, experienced opposition pack. Things went from bad to worse, without going into too much detail we defended poorly against a big, physical side who had the bonus point sewn up well before half time. Credit to OMH who were well drilled and took full advantage of some uncharacteristically weak Watford defence.

There were some positives to be had - Beesy made a tackle and Jamesy scored a well-worked try following our only period of pressure in the home sides red zone. Ricky came along to watch. Our shirts were also definitely much nicer than the OMH choccy brown number.

The second half saw flanker Pitsialis forced from the field, more re-shuffling seeing Upton come from the wing to flank. The hosts scored a couple more before A. Routley was forced from the field, Watford down to 14 and going uncontested up front. This clearly skewed the game as we were only 40 or so points down at this point and the comeback was on. Big time.

Anyway, Kingsley scored yet again from his own half following a nice draw and pass from Jamesy which left him with only 3 men to beat - easy for the man who shouts 'KILL KILL KILL' every time the oppo have the ball.

Final score OMH 59 - 14 Watford. I give the OMH changing room 8 out of 10 for size and cleanliness. The showers receive a 3. Decent size, but freezing cold.

In all seriousness, a tough day but well done to the youngsters who stepped up from the 2nd XV and acquitted themselves admirably against a very good side. Onwards and upwards, lots of fixable things provided we work on them together.

MOTM - Matt Poole. 1st XV debut, did very well behind a pack in retreat.

WOTW - Scott Menzies. Ruined everything by going on a shopping spree instead of driving to the ground.