Monthly Archives: December 2024

29th December 2024- Championship, Watford 1 Cardiff City 2

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Watford 1-2 Cardiff City – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Cardiff City won their first Championship game in 10 attempts as they beat Watford 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

Sky: Robinson opened the scoring in the first minute and grabbed another before half-time, shortly after Giorgi Chakvetadze had equalised, to dent the hosts’ play-off hopes.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Cardiff City 2

Five talking points: Unbeaten home run ends and dealing with delaying tactics

Watford 1 Cardiff 2 minute-by-minute match report

‘We have to admit that, to a man, we weren’t good enough’ – Cleverley

Cleverley ready to help Jebbison both technically and mentally

Nine months of impregnability ended in one lousy 90 minutes

They tried it at Luton. They tried it yesterday. Probably won’t be tried again!

Early goal was bad, but conceding so soon after equalising was criminal

Fran’s Watford Blog: The post-match analysis was lively with Adam having an extended (and justifiable) rant. It had been a very frustrating game. Watford had completely dominated possession, but had seemed very reluctant to go for goal in contrast with the opposition whose goals came from positive runs. Cardiff were unpleasant opposition, the very early goal meaning that the time wasting was prolonged and the referee decided not to deal with it. There was also a lot of shirt pulling that went unpunished while every tackle by the Hornets seemed to provoke agonised rolling around. On more than one occasion, the Cardiff physios were called on for a player who was back on their feet with no apparent harm done before they reached them.

From the Rookery End: With Watford’s unbeaten home record finally gone, Colin, Jordi and Mike got together to discuss the two Feative home games against Portsmouth and Cardiff. Do fans take themselves too seriously? Did Baah’s “take the L” dance contribute to Watford taking one of their own against Cardiff? Was the ref to blame – or was it just one of those days for Tom Cleverly’s Hornets?

26th December 2024- Championship, Watford 2 Portsmouth 1

WFC.net goal commentary: 1  2

Report: Watford 2-1 Portsmouth – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Rocco Vata’s 95th-minute winner earned Watford victory over Portsmouth in a controversial match at Vicarage Road.

Sky: Zak Swanson fired Pompey ahead early on but Edo Kayembe cancelled that out via a second-half spot-kick Portsmouth were adamant should not have been given. Substitute Rocco Vata then tapped home in stoppage time to complete the comeback.

Watford’s Kwadwo Baah sees red for goading Portsmouth with Fortnite emote!

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 2 Portsmouth 1

Watford 2 Portsmouth 1 minute-by-minute report

Cleverley advises Mousinho to ‘look at his own behaviour’

Communications equipment issue caused penalty delay

Vata glorious way to secure a rare victory on Boxing Day

BHappy: Sissoko has proven to be anything other than a calming influence in such situations and as he lined up to come on himself with three minutes of normal time left it seemed likely that he’d either kill someone or score the winner. In the end he didn’t quite do either, but would play a key role in the decisive goal which involved three of the substitutes. In the fifth and final minute of added time with a disappointing-but-OK-in-the-circumstances-I-suppose point on the cards, Dan Bachmann humped a final long clearance, Vakoun Bayo – who enjoyed a spiky cameo himself – did brilliantly to control and flick on for Sissoko to run onto...

Fran’s Watford Blog:…his shot was closed down, but the ball rebounded to Vata who found the net, sparking manic celebrations in the home stands. I think the expression is “limbs” and it was an accurate description as we all leaped around hugging each other. I nearly fell into another row of seats on more than one occasion. The players’ celebration was equally mad, and it appears that Vata does smile.

From the Rookery End: After the bonkers end to Watford’s 2-1 Boxing Day home win, Jon and Jason, as they walked away from the ground, had a quick chat about the game and the players that made an impact on the result.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c1lnql8lngnt#Tables

21st December 2024- Championship, Burnley 2 Watford 1

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Burnley 2-1 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Burnley kept pace with the Championship’s top two as they eased past Watford 2-1 at Turf Moor to preserve their unbeaten home record.

Sky: And, although a Kwadwo Baah goal provided late concern for the Burnley manager, a run of just one defeat from their last 19 league games certainly suggests they may be capable of a quick return to the Premier League in 2025.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Burnley 2 Watford 1

Burnley 2 Watford 1 minute-by-minute report

‘When I see players shying away from wanting the ball then we have a real issue’

‘I’ll keep what happened in the dressing room within the dressing room’

A haunting defeat with all the hallmarks of the Ghost of Away Games Past

Away results threatening to derail the season

Promotion contenders? ‘Absolutely we are’ says Cleverley

Fran’s Watford Blog: A draw would have been harsh on the home side who had dominated all but the last 10 minutes of the game. After the energy and competitiveness of the West Brom game, this was a very disappointing showing from the Hornets. Burnley are a good team, but it was a great shame that we didn’t have a go at them earlier on. We certainly missed Louza in the midfield. Burnley stopped us playing while putting together some slick passing moves themselves.

From the Rookery End: After another unsuccessful away trip, this one up north for a 2-1 lose to Burnley, Adam Drury and Jon discuss the changes made to the Watford squad and their affects on the teams performance, as the Hornets kick off their busy Christmas fixtures.  In addtion, DCW talks to Not The Top 20’s Ali Maxwell about how the championship is taking shape this season: are patterns forming, what are the chances of Watford making a play off push and how secure are the teams at the bottom?

15th December 2024- Championship, Watford 2 West Bromwich Albion 1

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1  2

Report: Watford 2-1 West Bromwich Albion – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Vakoun Bayo’s double lifted Watford above West Brom in the Championship play-off race as they inflicted the Baggies’ first defeat in 13 games.

Sky: The Ivory Coast striker glanced home a first-half header before superb control on his chest ended with a shot on the swivel early in the second period.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 2 West Brom 1

Five talking points: Changing shape, Vata impact and exceeding expectations

Watford 2 West Brom 1 minute-by-minute report

Players responded to a ‘courageous’ change of shape and team

Porteous back to form on the pitch after summer of turmoil

A ‘coming of age’ victory that was as delicious as your first legal drink

Plan to switch shape was hatched on Thursday morning

Vata is Rocco and rolling under Cleverley’s guidance

Cleverley delighted Bayo is being rewarded with his hard work by goals

BHappy: What a bloody tremendous game of football that was. What a tense, dramatic, exhausting, exhilarating, inspiring, infuriating, marvellous thing. The sort of game where you meet up afterwards and just bellow at each other. All words mere detail.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It had been a really enjoyable game. The change of formation to four at the back and the attacking line-up had worked really well. Chakvetadze spent the whole game running at the West Brom defence causing them no end of problems. He really deserves to see his name on the scoresheet. Following on from his goal at Hull, it was great to see Vata start and get two excellent assists for the goals. He really is an exciting prospect. The brace from Bayo was delightful and it is always good to see a beaming smile on his face. The defence played very well, Porteous and Pollock were very solid indeed. It was also great to see Ngakia playing a full 90+ minutes and he was rewarded by being named Man of the Match.

From The Rookery End: After an exhilarating afternoon at Vicarage Road, Jon, Jas, Jordi and Mike got together outside a bustling Hornet Shop to discuss a thrilling Watford win. The boys discuss Tom Cleverley’s change of approach for the visit of West Brom, and run through how a tough game was won, with praise for not just the players, but for Tom’s pragmatic game management, too.

11th December 2024- Championship, Hull City 1 Watford 1

WFC.Net Goal commentary: 1

Report: Hull City 1-1 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Bottom side Hull City’s hopes of claiming a win in Ruben Selles’ first game in charge were dashed by Rocco Vata’s late equaliser for Watford.

Sky: Vata fired home in the 88th minute shortly after Hull substitute Chris Bedia’s scruffy effort appeared to have clinched former Reading manager Selles a winning start.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Hull City 1 Watford 1

Hull City 1 Watford 1 minute-by-minute report

‘Our points return against bottom-six teams has let us down a little bit’

Creative players challenged to do ‘not-so-sexy’ part of the job

The desire to be secure cost Watford the opportunity to be dynamic

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a very poor game of football. The Hornets had the best of the first half without really troubling the keeper. We started the second half really well, but after the first 10 minutes or so Hull got back into it and started causing us some problems. The introduction of Baah and Vata injected some pace and forward movement into the game and the goal was a decent effort. It was lovely to see Vata on the scoresheet. His appearances have been limited, but he always has an eye for goal and is a joy to watch, even if he never smiles. After the bright start to the season, we have endured some very dull games, and I am approaching the upcoming visit of West Brom and the trip to Burnley with some trepidation.