Watford maintained their unbeaten start to 2013 with a scrappy 7-0 win away to Hatfield in Herts/Middlesex League Division Three.

Buoyed by their impressive win over Mill Hill the previous week, Watford started brightly and held on to an early lead to achieve the victory.

The away side’s scrum was impressive and a series of drives close to the line were just held up short. However, Watford were not to be denied and Paul Wilson ran a superb line to be found by Tom McGee.

Despite being hauled down short of the line, the full-back was able to offload to skipper Paul Dunlop who touched down under the posts. With the extras added, Watford had a seven point lead after ten minutes. McGee almost added to the score but was foiled in his attempt and Hatfield enjoyed a spell of possession before half-time.

The second half continued in the same way as the first with Watford finding it difficult to implement their game plan, and this was compounded by injuries to McClennon, Braun, Martin Lee and Andy Lee, with Ricky Flint & Paul Dunlop also having to leave the field due to particularly nasty head wounds.

The remainder of the game was a stodgy affair littered with handling errors but, crucially, Watford showed excellent strength of character to hold out despite a number of players on the pitch carrying injuries.

Despite the unconvincing nature of the victory, it was a satisfactory start to 2013 for Watford as they look to build for the future.