Due to Hendon’s ties with Saracens the game was played at Allianz Park, home of the Aviva premiership team and their state of the art 4G artificial playing surface. The pitch was conducive to a fast paced, running game and both sides set out to play according to the conditions.

Unfortunately Watford found themselves three points down within the first five minutes, a dubious penalty for hands in the ruck converted by the home side. A second penalty was soon added for a 6-0 lead. The visitors hadn’t had a chance to get their hands on the ball, their cause not helped when Simon Bram was forced off injured after 15 minutes.

After a period where both teams were cancelling each other out in the middle of the park, Watford slowly began to gain the upper hand. The visitors forwards were making inroads with the ball in hand, and soon began to threaten the Hendon line. After one indiscretion at the ruck too many, Watford were awarded a penalty which was stroked over by Tom McGee to give the men from Radlett Road their first points of the afternoon.

Unfortunately for Watford, Hendon soon struck back with a try of their own. The home sides back three always looked dangerous with the ball in hand, consistently beating the first defender due to either sheer pace or good footwork. A break from the Hendon full back was finished off in the corner, putting his side 14-3 up.

The visitors responded well, strong carries from Andy Lee, Dave Kingsford and James Powell making serious dents in the Hendon defence. Unfortunately for Watford, some inconsistent refereeing at the breakdown meant the home side were constantly able to kill the ball, resulting in slow or sloppy service to the back line. The visitors continued to threaten, a driving maul cynically hauled down just short of the try line. As per the last few breakdowns, Hendon bodies then flopped over onto the wrong side, killing the ball once more. Watford frustrations boiled over, some over aggressive rucking leading to the penalty (and potential penalty try) being reversed. Credit to Hendon, who played the referee well during this stage of the match and exhibited some excellent defence.

However, Watford were not to be denied. An attacking lineout just outside the home sides 22 was collected by Martin Lee, who broke through before offloading to Sanchez Philpott to score in the corner. Thankfully Sanchez’s shock at seeing Martin pass / not knock on didn’t lead to him fumbling the ball.

Extras were missed, half time score 14-8 to Hendon.

With Watford having the benefit of a strong breeze in the second half, we were justifiably optimistic about being able to turn things around and for the first 20 minutes it looked like that was what would happen. The visitors enjoyed the greater share of territory and possession, McGee adding a penalty to bring the score to 14-11.

Watford continued to attack, roared on by a vociferous travelling crowd. We regularly got to within 5 metres of the Hendon line, however a combination of strong Hendon defence, poor decision making and occasional bad luck meant that the whitewash was never quite crossed. Credit to man of the match Paul Wilson who, returned to his preferred position of full back was having an absolute stormer with the ball in hand.

Then disaster struck – twice.

Having turned Watford over, the Hendon fly half pumped a long kick crossfield. All looked well, with winger Stuart Mainwaring seemingly having things covered until the ball bounced. As we all know a rugby ball has a funny bounce sometimes – what Watford didn’t know was that on a 4G pitch that bounce is 10 feet in the air and back over your head. This is exactly what happened, and with Mainwaring wrong footed the Hendon winger was able to speed away.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Minutes later the tactic was repeated, Watford hadn’t learnt their lesson and another gravity defying bounce was collected for a carbon copy score and the game seemingly out of Watford’s reach.

With time running out, the visitors gave themselves a glimmer of hope. The referee finally penalised Hendon at the breakdown, Tom McGee taking a quick tap penalty and releasing Paul Wilson. Wilson still had a great deal of work to do, and showed great strength along with some neat footwork to score in the corner, a try his exceptional performance deserved. Unfortunately Watford players were dropping like flies. Jon McClennon, Andy Lee, Paul Dunlop and Sanchez Philpott joining Simon Bram (who returned to action on one leg) on the injury list.

With 80 minutes approaching and the game opening up, Hendon added another try. Watford uncharacteristically fell off a number of tackles, a break from the home side ending up with another try. Final score 33-16 to Hendon.

In all honesty, this was a game Watford probably didn’t deserve to win however a losing bonus point would have been just reward for a spirited performance, and perhaps more reflective of the competitive nature of the game. Watford were not themselves this weekend, a lack of physicality at the breakdown and some poor defence meant we were only in the game for fits and spurts – not a Watford performance at all.

With Quins not picking up any points this weekend, Watford know that victory over Chess Valley and Ickenham will guarantee a top six play off spot.

Watford 1st XV: Bees, Philpott, Nelson, Kingsford, McClennon, Powell, Hammil, M. Lee, Hopkins, McGee, Yates, Bram, Dunlop, Mainwaring, P. Wilson

Subs: G. Wilson, Hancock, A. Lee

Tries: Philpott, P. Wilson

Pens: McGee x 2

Man of the Match: Paul Wilson. Returned to full back, and had an excellent game. Solid under the high ball and defensively, greatest contribution was with the ball in hand. Always beat the first defender and made ground.

WotW: Richard Yates. Was a difficult call, but that kick...