Category Archives: January

6th January 2024- FA Cup Third Round, Watford 2 Chesterfield 1

WFC.Net Jon Marks Goal Commentary: 1  2

BBC: Tom Dele-Bashiru sent Watford into the fourth round of the FA Cup with an injury-time winner against National League leaders Chesterfield. Chesterfield had been on course to upstage a side 63 places above them in the English football pyramid, but late goals from substitute Mileta Rajovic and Dele-Bashiru saved the Hornets.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 2 Chesterfield 1

Hornets survive scare to reach FA Cup fourth round

Ismael had to ‘get loud’ at half-time because ‘players chose to go another way’

‘It was like we were strolling around’ admits Hoedt whose warning went unheeded

BHappy: Chesterfield were never a dull prospect.  Few of us will be overly familiar with the Spireites travails since interrupting 60+ years of bouncing slowly between tiers 3 and 4 to drop out of the League altogether five years ago, but if the margin of their lead at the top of the National League didn’t spark interest, the startling prospect of our visitors capitalising on the FA Cup’s generous rules inflating away allocations by filling the Vicarage Road end will have grabbed everyone’s attention.  A non-league team, even a non-league team that isn’t a non-league team by tradition, even a non-league team that’s the demonstrably the strongest non-league team in the country at the moment doesn’t bring an away following of nearly 4000 with coaches filling Vicarage Road after the game for a nice day out.  Our visitors thought they could get something here, and giddy on the little-risk-high-reward deal described above, were noisy and boisterous throughout.

https://www.thefa.com/competitions/thefacup/results

1st January 2024- Championship, Plymouth Argyle 3 Watford 3

https://www.skysports.com/football/plymouth-argyle-vs-watford/teams/485008

WFC.Net Jon Marks Goal Commentary: 1  2  3

Sky: Ryan Andrews’ second-half equaliser secured Watford a 3-3 Championship draw from a topsy-turvy New Year’s Day thriller at Plymouth.

BBC: Edo Kayembe’s effort into the bottom corner gave the Hornets an early lead, but Finn Azaz’s superb volley levelled the scores soon after. Azaz turned provider as he teed up Morgan Whittaker to blast the Pilgrims ahead before Ismael Kone’s superb effort made it 2-2, only for Ryan Hardie to get a third for Argyle in a pulsating first half.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Plymouth 3 Watford 3

Watford come back twice to take point in a wet, windy and wild game in the west

‘We made a lot of mistakes and errors in defence in first half’ – Ismael

BHappy: The football, then. As already discussed, and whilst bearing in mind once again that probably and definitely aren’t the same thing… this team probablywon’t get promoted and probably won’t get relegated.  This being the case, surely stupid basketball-like end-to-end football with all that this entails is vastly preferable to any alternative that yields a similarly inconsequential haul of points.

Fran’s Watford Blog: The travelling fans were full of smiles on the way out of the ground.  It had been a tremendously entertaining game.  It was one of those days when you would have loved to be a neutral, but we had all enjoyed it just the same.  The Hornets had generally been great going forward, although Rajović had a poor game, but we could not cope with the pace of the Plymouth forwards who seemed to break forward at will needing great last-ditch tackles and excellent saves from Hamer to keep them out.  There had been some wonderful goals, with Koné’s an absolute belter.  Andrews had a great game, and his goal was a thing of beauty.  The nerves had been jangling at the end of the game, but there was a great atmosphere among the Watford fans, much more positive than we have seen at many games this season and they were in good voice cheering the lads on with much less of the negative chanting that I hate so much.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67818354

28th January 2023- Championship, Middlesbrough 2 Watford 0

Attendance: 25,469

BBC Sport: Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough side leapfrogged Watford and moved up to third in the Championship table by winning the meeting of two play-off hopefuls.

Sky Sports: First-half goals from Chuba Akpom and Marcus Forss enabled Boro to bounce back in impressive fashion following last weekend’s North East derby defeat by Sunderland.

Fran’s Watford Blog: The travelling fans who were still in the stand at the end of the game offered sympathetic support to the players when they came over to applaud us, but that didn’t mask the fact that it had been a poor performance.  There had been a promising spell midway through the first half and a very good start to the second, but Middlesbrough were on top for most of the game, were incredibly dangerous when they attacked and, once they scored the second goal, the Hornets never looked like getting back in the game.

21st January 2023- Championship, Watford 1 Rotherham United 1

WFC.Net Goal Commentary: 1

Attendance: 18,911

BBC Sport: Watford were left to rue a host of missed chances as they were held to a draw by Rotherham. Mario Gaspar hit the outside of the post early on for the hosts, before Shane Ferguson gave the Millers the lead as he blasted in from close range. Vakoun Bayo grazed the Rotherham bar soon after, while Matheus Martins also struck the upright for the promotion-chasing Hornets shortly after the restart.

Sky Sports: Joao Ferreira rescued a point for Watford in a 1-1 draw with Rotherham but the result did little to help their automatic promotion chances. In addition to Ferreira’s superb equaliser from 20 yards, which cancelled out Shane Ferguson’s first-half opener, Watford clipped the visitors’ woodwork on two occasions on what proved to be a frustrating afternoon for the Vicarage Road crowd.

BHappy: Rotherham aren’t dirty or particularly defensive, but they are strong and organised and, frankly, bigger than us.  With new, young signings and promising youngsters and that we are relatively lightweight…  Choudhury, stamping all over the midfield once again, and Sierralta stand out for their ability to give some back but Koné, whilst he has a good touch and the nous to spot and execute a long range pass isn’t nearly robust enough.  We get bullied once again, as we have far too often this season;  there’s a lack of physical presence up front in particular, where we simply don’t have a target for a direct ball and aren’t clever enough in trying to play through, but also in midfield despite Hamza’s best efforts.

Fran’s Watford Blog: At half time, Richard Johnson was talking about the week that the Academy players have had with the appearances in the FA Cup, the Youth Cup win against Everton and the league appearances including Adeyemo’s tremendous goal against Blackpool.  One thing that he didn’t mention was an event that the under 15s attended on Monday at which Eve Kugler, a child Holocaust survivor, spoke of her experiences during the rise of Nazi Germany.  I was lucky enough to be invited to join them.  Eve kindly spent her 92nd birthday talking to the group.  Her story was both chilling and very moving.  It is wonderful that the club educate the youngsters in this history and encourage them to learn about different communities.

14th January 2023- Championship, Watford 2 Blackpool 0

WFC.Net Goal Commentary: 1  2

Attendance: 19,679

BBC Sport: Teenage substitute Tobi Adeyemo helped send Watford up to third in the Championship with his first senior goal in a win against strugglers Blackpool.

Sky Sports: The striker, 17, looked as stunned as he was elated to have found the net in the 72nd minute – just four minutes after replacing Vakoun Bayo for his first taste of league action. 

BHappy: His celebration is magnificent, and mirrors the response in the stands – pure joy to start with, he has the armspan of an albatross.  Then giddy disbelief as he clutches his fingers to his scalp before being mobbed, youth team colleague Jack Grieves first on the scene from his touchline warm-up.  The youngster’s popularity is evident from the reaction of his teammates, who make a bee-line for the mob in the corner.

Fran’s Watford Blog: As if a goal from a 17 year-old making his league debut wasn’t pleasing enough, he scored it in the 72nd minute on the GT matchday.  I am sure that the great man was celebrating with the rest of us. 

7th January 2023- FA Cup Third Round, Reading 2 Watford 0

No programme was produced for the game.
Attendance: 7,954

BBC Sport: Goals from Kelvin Abrefa and Shane Long were enough to beat a below-par Watford side and earn Reading a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Fran’s Watford Blog: Before kick-off there was a minute’s applause in memory of Gianluca Vialli, whose tragically early death was announced this week.  The players also wore black armbands as a mark of respect for a man that was admired and loved throughout English (and Italian) football.