Watford moved to within one victory of the play-offs after picking up a 24-5 bonus-point win over local rivals Chess Valley in Herts-Middlesex Two on Saturday.

Despite starting as the underdogs on paper, Chess began the stronger of the two sides and spent the first five minutes camped in Watford’s 22.

Fortunately for the hosts, Valley weren’t able to make the possession and territory count on the scoreboard and once Watford got their hands on the ball they began to look the more dangerous of the two sides.

Valley missed a penalty, letting Watford off the hook and allowing them to alleviate the pressure which had been building.

The hosts were not to be denied though, and a powerful burst from Paul Dunlop saw him hauled down just short of the line.

With the ball being recycled quickly, flanker Luke Hammill was able to burrow over for the opening score. The conversion was successful, making it 7-0 to Watford.

Hammill was then shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. With the hosts down to 14 men, Valley looked to make the numerical advantage count.

With Watford a man light in the scrum, the visitors attacked blind. Winger Richard Yates read the move perfectly and intercepted a pass to fly down the wing and touch down for the score.

Once Hammill returned to the field, Watford looked to push on and secure the bonus point.

Andy Lee earned his first yellow card for not rolling away but despite being a man down once more, Watford held out to lead 12-0 at the break.

Having seen out the remainder of Lee’s sin-binning, the hosts began to control proceedings.

The third try soon came, Dunlop scoring in the corner after good work from Ian Butcher.

With the bonus point in sight, Watford took their eye off the ball and allowed Chess to score a try of their own.

And with 20 minutes remaining, a second Valley try could have made life difficult for the hosts but Watford soon scored the all-important fourth try to complete their victory.

A rolling maul was cynically hauled down, and with the advantage being played, Lee took a short ball from Simon Bram before being halted inches short of the line. Flanker Adam Hancock was on hand to collect and score his first try for the first XV, earning Watford the bonus point in the process.