The Chindits arrived at a very wet and windy Watford with high hopes of getting our first away win against them in 3 or 4 seasons. As expected, Watford had a side full of well drilled forwards whereas Stortford had a very strong pack and a rapid set of backs.

Stortford won the toss and opted to play up the slope into the driving wind and rain on the basis that Watford would tire in the first half and our pace would start to show in the second half.

The game got underway with a deep and high kick from Watford that was safely gathered by Stortford and taken into contact. Dan Hunt playing at Scrum half spread the ball wide but the wind and driving rain made handling extremely difficult leading to the first of many knock-ons.

Although Watford had a large pack the Chindits were totally dominant in the scrum winning their own ball and a couple against the head. The Watford hooker was stuggling to cope with the onslaught and retired injured after about 10 mins. Watford went uncontested having refused the loan of Stortford reserve front row and this would prove pivotal later in the game.

The remainder of the first 40 was spent with Stortford pinned back in their own half by Watford and forced to defend in the face of some impossible weather and some truly mystifying refereeing around the breakdown. The Chindits dug deep and did well to only concede two tries and one conversion in the first period.

At the half time whistle Stortford were 12-0 but were bristly with confidence that it would all come good in the second half.

Typically, the start of the second half was marked by the rain stopping, the sun coming out and the wind dropping. This meant that Watford didn’t have to deal with the same conditions as Stortford in the first half but, at the same time, it did give the Chindits the opportunity bring their backs into play.

The game re-started and Stortford were immediately on the front foot winning possession at the breakdown and spreading the ball wide. Watford gave away a number of penalties in their 22 and Stortford patiently went through the phases until a space opened up out wide and the combination of Sam Stockley, Sid Maguire, Tom Roche and Jake Brough linked up beautifully to score a great try in the corner.

Unfortunately the kick proved too difficult in the conditions and the score went unconverted.

This score gave Stortford a new lease of life with the backs starting to create some space. Unfortunately the last pass just refused to stick with Joe Tracy, Tom Roche and Chris Collings all coming agonisingly close but ultimately losing the ball.

Watford sensed the change in momentum and both sides showed great spirit fighting for everything through to the final whistle.

With 2 minutes to go Stortford had possession on the Watford 22. Dan Hunt spotted a mis-match, gathered the ball, chipped it over the top and showed a terrific burst of speed to beat the defenders and ground the ball at the outer limit of the in goal area. Dan had shown such pace that the referee was late arriving and unfortunately for Stortford was persuaded by Watford that the ball had gone dead. He then decided that Stortford should have a scrum on the 5 metre line.

This scrum was the final roll of the dice and given that the scrums were still uncontested Stortford thought they had one final attacking opportunity. Unfortunately this didn’t turn out to me the case as the Watford flanker broke his bind early and nailed Dan Hunt. The ball got tied up on the floor and the referee blew for time.

This was a hugely frustrating game as Stortford were clearly the better side but all credit to Watford for sticking to the task, making the most of the conditions and for preserving their large packs fitness by taking the option of uncontested scrums when it arose.

Man of the match was Joe Tracy for some great work around the breakdown. He would have won a whole lot more ball too if only the referee had interpreted things consistently around the breakdown.

Dick of the day went to the angriest man in rugby, Chris Collings, for surpassing 400 minutes of continuous unbridled rage over the past 5 matches smile emoticon
Neither Chris or Joe were available to down their pints post-match so honorable mentions go to Dave Walker and Josh Prime who both stepped in and restored some pride by finishing their beers way ahead of the Watford boys.

Next week we are home at to Fullerians. We are also having a squad night out to give Tom Caulfield a big send-off ahead of his ski adventure so please secure your pink slips!!