Nottingham Forest returned to the top of the Championship despite a sweet strike by Watford’s Lewis McGugan denying his former side victory.
Both are little men with big ambitions but there the similarity ends. Gianfranco Zola is urbane and mild-mannered, Billy Davies fierce and feisty. And it remains true that teams naturally reflect their managers.
The curse of the ex-player came back to haunt Nottingham Forest at Watford, but it could not stop them reclaiming top spot.
Forest weathered the sort of second-half fightback that is becoming Watford’s custom and would have had maximum points again but for the high-class save, low to his right, with which Manuel Almunia kept out Ishmael Miller’s goalbound shot.
In my head, we always draw one-all with Forest. It’s kind of an unwritten rule. Not strictly true in reality of course; nonetheless a glimpse at the record books reveals ten such outcomes in the last 30 league encounters spanning almost 30 years. It feels as if I’ve seen at least that many.
25th August 2013- Championship, Watford 1 Nottingham Forest 1
Leave a Reply
OLD WATFORD
Old Watford is a day by day scrapbook style history of Watford Football Club matches told through programmes, newspapers, books, fanzines, videos and weblinks.
Troy Deeney fired in a hat-trick as Watford thrashed newly promoted Bournemouth to go top of the table.
Troy Deeney hit a hat-trick as Watford hammered Bournemouth 6-1 in their Championship clash at Vicarage Road.
Troy Deeney scored a second-half hat-trick as Watford demolished Bournemouth at Vicarage Road and sent a strong message to their Championship promotion rivals.
Watford signalled their Premier League ambitions with five goals in a ruthless second half display to crush newly-promoted Bournemouth.
Even for world-weary types like your correspondent, who prefer their battles hard-fought and their victories without any sense of entitlement, this is terribly hard to resist. It almost feels as if the anticlimax at Wembley didn’t happen; perhaps it was such a non-event, swimming in the spring heat haze, that any memories have simply evaporated and left little trace. What might’ve been a watershed moment just passed quietly into history, and here we are: the old gang, back together for another shot at the big time. Even for world-weary types, it’s a tantalising prospect.
