First XV make it 5 from 5
Watford 12 - 28 Verulamians
The Mighty Vee’s travelled the short distance to local rivals Watford in what looked to be a tight contest considering the good start both teams have made to the 22/23 season.
The hosts got off to a better start through some slick hands down the right hand wing and quickly followed that up with a second try to catch Vee’s on the back foot with the score 12-0. After some phase play by the Vee’s they started to advance up the field asserting their physical edge through strong carries from the likes of Oakley RS and Captain Callum Porter.
Gradually Vee’s worked all the way into Watford’s 22 and as has been a recurring theme this season the slippery Tom Shenton exploited weak ruck defence to scurry over to make it 12-5. This clearly inspired the Vee’s who then off the back of a great Oscar Brando break splitting the blindside defence like a hot knife thorough butter managed to crash over through the eager Jake Lawrence. 12-10 the scores stood at half time as the momentum now appeared to be in the travelling teams favour.
The second half kicked off and Vee’s carried on like the end of the first half earning a penalty in a convertible position in Watford’s half. Jake Lawrence as he has done for the past few games took up the opportunity to add another 3 points making it 12-13 to Vee’s. With Vee’s starting to frustrate Watford discipline gave in with their prop being sin binned.
With a man advantage Vee’s wanted to convert this into points and did so through the bull dozing Tom Spratt who crashed over close to the line which is becoming a regular occurrence in our games.
After this score was converted by Jake Lawrence to make it 12-20 and with their full outfit being replenished Watford looked to reply. They had a period of 10 minutes in our half and 22 in what looked to be a certain try opportunity. However, great try line defence from debutants Ciaran Hennessy and Chris Anderson meant we stood strong and kept Watford scoreless in the second half.
Vee’s then in the last 10 minutes of the game looked to secure the crucial 4 try bonus point as Watford began to tire. Off the back of a scrum Fly half Joe Breeze executed a well run DSP seeing him break through to then generously give a debut try to Chris Anderson in the corner despite being unmarked.
In the dying minutes Vee’s made a few more breaks to the delight of the large travelling crowd but unfortunately couldn’t cross the white line anymore and Full time came with the score being 12-28. Vee’s will be very pleased with the guts they showed after falling behind to two quick scores to then come back and win convincingly.
A big shoutout to the work rate of the entire team as has been the theme this season. Well done to Rob Campbell who came back from uni to help us secure the win as well as our three league match debutants - Jo Hicks, Ciaran Hennessy and Chris Anderson. Lastly a shoutout to our man of the match Oscar Brando who deservedly earned it.
A well earned Halloween social was enjoyed post game with a variety of flamboyant outfits being displayed.
