Monthly Archives: February 2015

28th February 2015- Championship, Leeds United 2 Watford 3

BBC Sport: Watford fought back from two goals down to earn a thrilling victory at Leeds.

Sky Sports: The automatic promotion hopefuls pulled one back before half-time thanks to a clinical Troy Deeney finish and then a double from Matej Vydra sealed the turnaround to put them a point off the top.

24th February 2015- Championship, Watford 3 Rotherham United 0

WFC.Net Goal Commentary: 1 2 3

BBC: Watford maintained their bid for automatic promotion as Odion Ighalo scored twice in a comprehensive win over struggling Rotherham.

Sky: Odion Ighalo continued his superb run of scoring form with another two goals while strike partner Troy Deeney also netted as the Hornets remained six points behind leaders Derby.

BHappy: So it was a curious game, except that curious makes it sound interesting and it really wasn’t that. It was curious in the sense that we’d done almost nothing to earn our half-time lead, basically just sitting in our own half and watching the enemy through binoculars until their sentry fell asleep. Aside from a Deeney snap-shot, our openings were entirely of Rotherham’s making, a defender falling over and a clearance rebounding back into the penalty area. We were set up to be a brick wall, albeit one which still managed to allow Arnason a completely free header from a corner for what should’ve been a prompt equaliser. That might’ve changed things. If you’re going to play a formation as miserable as this one, you’d really better not screw it up. As it was, the grumbling was mainly concentrated on the inability of either of our makeshift full-backs to take a proper throw-in.

Fran’s Watford Blog: There was much complaining after the game because, convincing as the win had been, it was the dullest 3-0 imaginable. The way the team had been set up meant there was no width and little free-flowing football. Still a win is a win, the goal difference is improved and it is very tight at the top of the table. Sometimes dull is good.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/31498592

21st February 2015- Championship, Watford 0 Norwich City 3

BBC: Norwich City scored three goals in the final 25 minutes to beat play-off rivals Watford and move to within four points of the top two.

BHappy: Much has been made of the limited number of chances that we made throughout, but our defence had looked solid and Norwich’s compact shape cost them in terms of the number of bodies they were able to commit forward. Frankly, if anyone was going to score it was us but you would have been reckless to put money on that for all of our attacking riches. So… the award of the penalty was both unexpected on any number of levels and absolutely fundamental to the outcome; like ourselves City had barely had any controlled possession in the final third but Hoolahan put his head down and ran, and then fell over. The referee gave the penalty, Gomes went the right way and got down well but the kick was right in the corner. It hadn’t looked like a penalty, and the Hornets’ frustration with an official whose control on the game had been fingertip since the first whistle nearly boiled over. We’d nullified City’s threat, there seemed no prospect of them scoring and the decision to award the penalty changed the game; newly invigorated, the visitors had no cause to deviate from the sit-deep-and-break approach that so many have tried before, if rarely as effectively.

Fran’s Watford Blog: There were no boos at the final whistle, mainly because those who indulge in such behaviour had set off for home some time beforehand. After some terrific performances in the last few weeks, it is difficult to be critical. The penalty that shouldn’t have been was definitely a turning point, but it was disappointing that we capitulated rather than fighting back as we did at Bolton and Brentford. Norwich came to disrupt our play and we allowed them to do so a little too easily. The scoreline flattered the visitors, but we barely had a shot on goal so didn’t deserve anything from the game. Thankfully, we have another home match on Tuesday in which to get this out of our system.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/31466186

14th February 2015- Championship, Bolton Wanderers 3 Watford 4

1-0

2-2

3-2

4-3

http://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches

A late winner from substitute Troy Deeney gave Watford all three points from a seven-goal thriller at Bolton.

Deeney, a 57th-minute substitute for Gabriele Angella, beat Andy Lonergan with a low shot from 16 yards to give his side victory in a breathtaking festival of attacking football.

When the final whistle went, a couple of the Watford players dropped to the ground as did a number of the Bolton players. They all looked dead on their feet and certainly those of us in the stands were completely drained. What a terrific game of football. There were ecstatic grins in the away end and hugs between friends and, most likely, complete strangers. The players came over and were greeted as the heroes that they were. Ighalo, Layun, Forestieri and Deeney thanked us by nipping over the advertising hoardings to give their shirts to the crowd.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2015-02-14

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-championship/14-february-2015/

7th February 2015- Championship, Watford 1 Blackburn Rovers 0

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

BBC: Watford striker Odion Ighalo scored his 12th goal of the season to give the Hornets victory over Blackburn.

Sky: The Hornets had been marginally the better side in the first half, but they struggled against the visitors’ more direct approach after the break and needed goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes to stop them from going behind on at least two occasions.

Bhappy: Blackburn dictated terms for long, long periods here, including the whole of a second half in which we barely created as much as a half-chance and, I suspect, mustered no more than one vital, decisive shot on goal. They set the agenda, they shaped the game, they’ll feel with complete justification that they should’ve won it. They were well-organised, robust and physical, and a bit charmless in a way that I find oddly charming; these kind of Championship gurners are gradually dying out, and more’s the pity. In Chris Brown, they had a proper old-fashioned villain of a centre forward, all bad-temper and elbows, whose only failure in the service of his side was to miss the couple of chances that came his way. In Jay Spearing, whose resemblance to one of the boulder-trolls from Frozen is uncanny, they had a proper midfield hatchet man, treading the kind of disciplinary tightrope that any midfielder worth his salt ought to spend his career walking. The rest aren’t exactly shrinking violets. There’s something Victorian and industrial about them, and I’ll regret the day when our legion of continental fancy-dans doesn’t have to overcome this kind of challenge. They’re a good side. Not a nice one, but a good one.

Fran’s Watford Blog: In a rare Watford attack, Vydra exchanged passes with Deeney and tried a shot that was blocked, it fell to Paredes who played it out to Deeney whose shot was put out for a corner. Watford then took an unexpected lead as Layun’s set piece was played on by Angella to Ighalo whose shot found the net by way of Steele’s hand and the post. The celebration of this miracle included a very long prayer from the goalscorer. Blackburn tried to hit back and there was a moment of drama as Gomes punched a cross then chased the ball out of the box to welly it over the SEJ stand to loud cheers from the Watford faithful. Watford appeared to have increased their lead in the final moments as Vydra and Ighalo broke forward and the Czech won a corner from which a cross was headed home by a defender as Ighalo challenged, but the goal was ruled out for offside presumably as Ighalo was deemed to be interfering with play. There were huge cheers at the final whistle. It had been a difficult game and the win was hardly deserved, but Blackburn had been such unpleasant opponents that I felt no guilt. It was no surprise that Gomes won the man of the match award and he was given a tremendous ovation as he did his lap of the pitch applauding the crowd at the end.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/31070467