On a Roll!

Having come from behind to topple Black Horse last weekend, Watford gallopped into their away fixture at Letchworth with confidence.
However, the time for horseplay was over, neighly!!!

From the kick-off, Letchworth’s number 8 gathered the ball to run in a 50 meter try knocking off lacklustre defenders as he went. Within minutes, the home side displayed their ability off the lineout with a driving maul bundled over the line to double the lead. It was looking like a long day for Watford.

Letchworth 12-0 Watford.

Only at this point did Watford seem to wake up, now with a clear idea of the threat posed by their hosts. They were going to need a decent performance to stand any chance against the early display of running rugby and a tidy rolling maul.

The Watford forwards, led by stand in captain and prop of well-cut jib Adam “Radish” Hancock, were the first to really stand up to the Letchworth threat.
Strong in the scrum all round, Jack B winning line out ball against the head, Andrew hounding Lethworth’s every move and Reeve winning turnovers-galore, Watford were able at last to get the ball out wide.

A little too wide.

20 minutes in and 2 tries down, Fly-half Hopkins received the ball on the 22-line and, uncharacteristically, opted not to utilise the support of his team mates and ran the ball into the far corner, somehow doing so without accelerating even slightly but brushing off the challenges of numerous defenders.Alas, the grounding had not been witnessed (by anyone but the player himself) and the referee called the line out. Despite polite appeals to the referee who was right to call it as he saw it, Hopkins and Watford were denied the points.

Having missed this opportunity, and witnessing the forwards begin to get a real grip on the game, it was time for the backs to play with their ball(s).

James and Kibaili made ground off crash ball and it wasn’t long before Kibaili was dragging three defenders over the line for Watford’s first points.

Letchworth 12-5.

With the half coming to a close, Watford found Yates out wide just outside the 22 and with plenty still to do he ran the ball a metre or two and slid the rest, with surprisingly little resistance from the ground.

Hopkins added the two points from the touch line, drawing the match at half time.

Letchworth 12-12 Watford.

Having fought back bravely to level the game, the second half started poorly for Watford, with Letchworth scoring early on with another well worked try to regain the lead.

Letchworth 17-12 Watford.

The next 25 minutes were spent battling it out in mid-field with scrum followed by line out followed by scrum followed by line out. A little re-jigging of the back line by temporary coach and regular 2nd team captain, George P. Bag-Hicks, saw Bearne slot in at centre and James move to scrum half. By this time Watford’s superior fitness was beginning to show.

Off more great forward work, Watford were able to put big Jack Bearne into a hole in the defence that he exploited brilliantly with hand-offs dealt out to defenders left, right, and centre.

Hopkins added the two points, Watford ahead for the first time in the game.

Letchworth 17-19 Watford.

Bearne was clearly not finished. Picking up a loose ball minutes later he crashed through the defence to score under the posts once again. A great performance almost complete.
Hopkins added the two points.
Letchworth 17-26 Watford.

With the game still in the balance as Letchworth refused to give up, who did Watford find under the high ball but Jack Bearne. Brought down shy of the line he was able to recycle the ball and Watford got it out to the ever-present Kiren Kibaili who finished the match with his second for the game, once again smashing several defenders over the line.
Letchworth 17-31 Watford.

A tough game for both sides, Watford looking forward to hosts Letchworth at home in a few weeks.

Final Score: 17-31 to Watford
Tries: Kibaili x 2, Yates, Bearne x 2
Conversions: Hopkins x 3

MoM: Jack Bearne (2 tries, great lines)
WoW: Kiren Kibaili (2 tries, forgot to wash his hair, or washed his hair too many times, something like that).