Bishop's Stortford 4 v Watford 2

The Chindits have waited 3 months for the chance to reverse the disappointing 12-5 loss in the away leg of this fixture and took to the field with a familiar strong looking side at Silver Leys on Saturday.

The weather conditions were similar to those in November with squally rain and a biting wind and the warm-up game of touch rugby told us all we needed to know about the greasiness of the ball.

The pre-match conversation was all about forwards domination in the set piece and ensuring that we built our attack through phases. Once again the Chindits had a fantastic set of backs and it was up to the forwards to create the space that they needed in the soggy conditions.

Watford won the toss and opted to kick and the game got underway with a very deep kick that was safely claimed and carried back into the Watford half.

It’s fair to say that the plans for phased play went clean out of the window and the first 40 mins was spent in an arm wrestle with Watford. Stortford had the best of the territory but each time we got within striking distance of the try line a handling error or a loose pass was hand the initiative back to Watford who would clear their lines. This led to a degree of frustration for both teams and the referee did well to keep control of the mounting appeals and increasing niggle from both teams.

The deadlock was eventually broken around the 20 minute mark when Mike Roberts who was playing at full back gathered the ball on the 10 metre line and showed his usual blistering footwork and pace to run round 4 or 5 players and saunter in under the posts for a great individual try. Sam Stockley slotted the extras to the sound of the Watford Captain reading the riot act to his team.

The remainder of the half carried on much as it started with the Chindits performing well in the scrum and the lineout but the forwards not really supporting each other and building the phases that would clearly unlock the game.

There was a moment of individual brilliance from Dan Hunt who intercepted a pass on the Chindits 5 metre line, evaded a couple of tackles and kicked the ball deep into the Watford half. Dan and Chris Collings gave chase. The ball was stripped from the Watford full back and nudged into the in goal area by Chris Collings who fell on the ball for a try. Unfortunately the referee adjudged the ball to have been knocked forward as it was stripped and Watford cleared their lines from the scrum.

With 5 minutes to go Mike Roberts latched onto a loose ball and pumped it up field. The race was on between Mike and Spencer Kersey who both gave chase. Mike Roberts arrived first and with Spencer Kersey running a great line to hamper the opposition full back Mike nudged the ball again before gathering it and trotting under the posts for a second time. Sam Stockley slotted the extras again and the Chindits went into half time 14-0 up.

Although this was a reasonable lead the 4’s knew they could play so much better and the half time talk was all about focussing on our own game rather than trying to compete on Watfords terms. Spencer Kersey made way for Dave Strafford on the wing with Brian Finch under instructions to join the forwards in place of Charlie Bugg after 10 mins.

Sam Stockley got the second half underway and Watford applied 5-10 mins of pressure. It would appear they’d had a similar half time conversation to us as their forwards started to take the ball on in two’s and three’s and made in-roads into the Chindits half. As is usual this season, Stortford didn’t budge an inch in defence with the forwards quelling the Watford Chaos Ball and, when it did get out to their backs the Chindits back line was quick enough and abrasive enough to stop Watford in their tracks.

After 5 or 10 minutes of pressure Stortford had some possession and the game was completely turned on its head.
The Stortford pack finally clicked stringing together a few phases but, more importantly, offloading the ball to each other out of contact. This brought some much needed pace into the game and the quicker ball really opened the game up for the Chindits who scored some fantastic team trys.

The forwards moved the ball nicely drawing in the tiring Watford defence for Mike Roberts to get his hatrick. Sam Stockley evaded a potential decapitation by ducking low and then burst through the defensive line to score a great try.

This was closely followed by the amazing scene of Jack FP gathering the ball on his own 22 from the re-start and rampaging down the pitch shrugging off the defence, recovering from a stumble and barging his way over for the quickest try I’ve ever witnessed from a re-start. This really took the wind out of Watfords sails and the Stortford ran in further trys from Stu Thomas and Jake Brough who came on with 20 minutes remaining.

5 of the 7 trys were converted meaning that the Chindits were emphatic 45-0 winners.

Man of the match was Mike Roberts for his great individual performance in the first half and for being pivotal to the much improved team effort in the second half before leaving the field with a damaged knee.

Dick of the day was Dave Strafford who was the final man in a lovely display of hands and barged his way over the try line only to drop the ball as he was grounding it (although Dave will correctly claim that he was under considerable pressure from a couple of the smallest Watford backs a the time)

This was another fantastic performance from the Chindits against a side that have won far more games than they have lost this season and I couldn’t be more proud of the spirit shown in defence and the turn around in performance from the whole team in the second half. Total class!!

Next week we are away to Fullerians 3’s which will be a tough fixture made even tougher if they field Josh Lewsey as they did against Letchworth a few weeks ago!!

The full squad this week was:
1. James Copper
2. Paul Byrne
3. Charlie Bugg
4. Rob Neal
5. Jack FP
6. Tom Brent
7. Max Oliver
8. Dave Walker
9. Dan Hunt
10. Sam Stockley
11. Chris Collings
12. Stu Thomas
13. George Keys
14. Spencer Kersey
15. Mike Roberts
16. Brian Finch
17. Jake Brough
18. Dave Strafford