Fullerians couldn’t celebrate the opening of their new clubhouse with a win, as they were comfortably beaten by Amersham & Chiltern on home turf.

A disappointing second half display from Fullers, which saw two of their players sent to the sin bin, proved to be costly, as they were defeated 46-0 by the visitors.

Rich Hoskins’ side were on the back foot after 15 minutes when Amersham’s Lachlan Collier forced his way over the line, before Stuart Pearham added two further points thanks to a successful conversion.

Pearham would add another three points on the board to hand the visitors a 10-0 lead at the break, when he made up for his two earlier misses by converting Amersham’s third penalty of the game.

Things went from bad to worse for Fullers when they fell further behind five minutes after the re-start, as good play from Monty Weatherall and Dave John allowed Dan Kingsley to race over the line in the corner, before Pearham added the extras thanks to a successful conversion.

Substitute Callum Varrall secured the bonus try and he was swiftly followed over by Josh Finch, while Pearham increased their advantage to 36-0 with two successful conversions to put Amersham & Chiltern well in control.

With two players in the sin-bin, it proved to be a difficult second half for Fullers and they were further punished by the visitors as Varrall and Joe Batt both ran over to secure Amersham a dominant victory.

Fullers head coach Hoskins said: “We were competitive in the first half but fell away in the second and allowed Amersham to dominate the game. When you are down on your luck 50/50 decisions never go your way and the guys heads dropped. We have a week off but need to pick ourselves up for our next game away to Southend.”

Away from the rugby field and after ten years of planning, Fullers’ new clubhouse was officially opened by former Mayor Baroness Dorothy Thornhill MBE on Friday.

The new facility includes six changing rooms, an officials room, a larger kitchen, bar and function area as well as a medical room, and was funded by both Watford Council and Fullerians.

Grants from the Rugby Football Union as well as Sport England were also sourced as well.

Chairman Kevin Brind said: “I had a dream that we could improve the clubhouse 10 years ago. It has been a long and difficult process but resilience paid off and thanks to the support of the then Mayor Dorothy Thornhill and Watford Council we were able to fulfil our dream.

“Over the years many Fullerians members have donated money and volunteered time to make this happen to produce a facility, not just for rugby, but for the community to enjoy.

“This would not have happened without Dorothy and the Councils support and I am very grateful to them all which is why it had to be Dorothy to open the facility.

“It was a great evening with members from the RFU, Watford Council including Caroline Roche, County Councillor Mark Watkin, Fullerians sponsors and members present to celebrate the new clubhouse.”

Baroness Thornhill added: “Fullerians is an asset to our town it was real pleasure to open their fabulous new facilities. I am confident they will continue to work with our community and provide high standards and posit role models for our youngsters.”