Pie's Army Bring Home Silverware!

Words provided by Sean Silver:

Weston started stronger with their gym honed three quarters cutting lines off of a deceptively quick 10 (I say deceptively quick as he was short with a pot belly and I need some justification for missing him).

Having known what to expect from Weston it was a little disappointing how Watford started, as the well drilled Weston offloading game was causing havoc. It took a superb John Portway cover tackle to prevent the first score as Weston looked to capitalise on their pressure. With Watford being turned over too often and too easily the game was slipping away before an atrocious decision by Weston’s 13 (inexplicably trying to run over the covering Watford 10 instead of passing to the two men supporting him on the outside) allowed Radish Hancock and Giddings to win a penalty and Watford to clear their lines.

With Watford typically dominant in the scrum and lineout (after a couple of early wobbles) Watford were able to clear the ball through the twin boots of Hill and Silver but unfortunately this did not translate into any real territory.

As Weston maintained pressure eventually the inevitable happened and they scored. The strong wind probably prevented the very kickable conversion and Weston led 5-0.

Much like last week the sudden release in pressure seemed to stir Watford. Inspired by being the underdogs and with our own Spartacus-esque leader in the shape of Pie, Watford brought the uprising. Like Sisyphus heaving the boulder up hill Watford went through the middle. Pitsialis, Grayling, A. Routley, Radish and Co grunted. Portway ran suicidal lines, got up and asked for more. Slowly, inexorably Watford wrestled both ground and momentum from the determined grasp of Weston.

Suddenly after 25 minutes of great heart but no great skill, Watford were back where we should be; going forward with the ball and causing problems. Now the Weston backs’ gameplan was only serving to narrow the pitch as Watford at last got to grips with their angles.

A Routley narrowly missed a tricky penalty but with the wind in his face the Weston ten could barely clear his lines and Watford retained the ball.
To this point the only thing more shocking than Silvers’ tackling was that Watford were winning the penalty count hands down. After a season grumbling about refs it seems that having three officials really suits us as both assistants and the man in the middle seemed to lose patience with Weston’s refusal to stay on their feet in the ruck.

One such transgression led to a lineout deep in Westen’s 22, although the subsequent maul was stopped Kebaili was released and showing trademark physicality (just ask Butch) went through two men before being held up short. As Weston once again infringed a 5m scrum was called and the result was predictable. Watford going forward and Weston resorting to cheating. This time the 10 diving off his feet to put his considerable girth between the ball and Pitsialis in the scrum. The referee with no hesitation to award the penalty try and A. Routley thumped the conversion into the trees and Watford led 7-5.
A second soon followed, another rolling maul, another collapse, another penalty. Watford shoving the scrum over the line and Pitsialis scoring a try described by Martin Lee as; “Simply phenomenal, classic number 8. Takes a specialist to do that. Really difficult skill. Please don’t let Hamill play 8, I hate the row.”
A. Routley continuing his fine form with the extras 14-5, half time.

2nd Half

14-5 lead. Playing up hill and into the wind. One Simple question, would it be enough?

Weston came out firing, stung by Watford’s lead they scored a quick try before missing the extras (from the same spot Routers had buried his). 14-10. With the wind in our faces and a level of intensity you only see in cup finals Watford were pinned back.
Weston scored again. They’d dominated territory (which we expected in the wind) and deserved the lead 17-14.

Despite the two tries Watford’s defence was much better in the 2nd half. With Hancock and Giddings spreading out and after the Weston 9 departed as a result of trying to tackle powerhouse centre Bearne (rookie error) they lacked the space and edge of earlier.

Chasing the game Watford were able to push up field and began to see more of the ball. With the tense and scrappy going into the final quarter most of the play was around the halfway as each team knew one score could decide the fate of the trophy.

In truth this was the most boring part of an absorbing rugby match as scrums and kicks were punctuated by occasional half breaks. Kiren Kebaili, Diston, JR and Gary made ground but each time the attack fizzled out. Watford got within 8m of the tryline only to lose the ball and Weston thought they were through to decide the match before being pulled back for an obvious forward pass.

With less than 10 minutes to go Watford launched a penalty into the Weston 22 and set up a rolling maul. Hauled down short Diston tried his luck with a switch before being felled on the line. Coming back for the penalty and another kick to the corner this time Weston couldn’t stop the maul and Kingsford added a try his performance deserved.
With A Routley departed Silver stepped up for his first competitive shot on goal this season. The lead a mere 2 points making the conversion crucial. Fortunately an uncharacteristic moment of ability extended the lead to a much more defendable four points.

With time running out, Weston spurned a penalty in front of the posts (knowing they’d need to score again) and were repelled.
Chris Routley then intercepted a forced pass and as he looked to put Diston in under the posts a cynical slap down (and subsequent dive over the top) led to a Watford penalty 22 out, in front. Although the referee again opted against the yellow the penalty would have guaranteed Watford avoided a normal time defeat.
Reverting to type Silver skewed the shot but with less than 2 minutes to go Weston had to attempt to regain a short drop out and drifted offside in the process. Although Watford infringed at the scrum Weston were unable to break the Watford line and a loose pass went into touch to give Watford the win and the perfect end to in imperfect season.