2nd XV Out of Cup

Words from Liam Meredith

A typical slow start for Watford saw us concede 3 tries inside the opening 10 minutes, one of which was a penalty try for a high tackle in the act of scoring. This seemed to wake Watford up a bit and for the ensuing 15 minutes, they proceeded to play some nice Rugby. Leading the resurgence was the returning Welshman James Powell, whose shuddering hits and strong carries were precisely what was needed. Not wanting to be outdone, centre Jonny Armitage provided a number of his trademark runs to cause the fullers centres some problems.

Following some persistent ill discipline from Fullerians, their hooker was sent from the field resulting in uncontested scrums for 10 minutes. Watford capitalised from this and following a nice offload from number 8 Liam Meredith to 15 Sean Silver, the fullback was able to get the ball to Stu Hall who skinned his man to dot down in the corner.

Fullerians then scored again before the break to go into the second half with the lead.

After a rousing speech from skipper George ‘Pie’ Hicks, Watford came out in the second half a changed team. Quite literally, as bearded wonder Giorgio Pitsialis entered the fray and reminded everyone that size doesn’t matter with some cataclysmic hits on the Fullers big boys.

Not content with smashing the opposition, Giorgio decided he wanted a try as well, which he duly got. The line out was won by Powell and the forwards went on one of many excellent rolling mauls. After a nice break from Meredith off the back, Pitsialis shoved his way over for a try on his return.

Alas Fullers were to score again from a charge down to extend their lead but Watford weren’t done just yet.

Having lost our captain to an elbow injury we were back to uncontested scrums again, and after some persistent hammering at the fullers line, (which resulted in another Fullerians sinbinning), we opted to take the scrum. Armitage had been running some devastating lines all game and the Fullers defence were suckered in by his excellent decoy line which allowed Taters, another Welsh wizard, to channel his inner Phil Bennett and step his way under the posts for Watford’s final try of the day.

Some resilient defence from Fullers saw them manage to get turnover ball and score a few more before the final whistle.

A second half performance to be proud of, the line out working well with Thibault and Big Mike launching Powell into the air and Flyhalf Keelan providing a good platform for Silver, Williams, Armitage and Hall to cause problems in the backs. But not enough to get the win in the end for Watford.

Final score: Watford Seconds 19- Fullerians thirds 46

Try: Stu Hall, Giorgio Pitsialis, Tathan Williams

Conversions: Keelan Tullett