Category Archives: November

26th November 2024- Championship, Watford 1 Bristol City 0

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Watford 1-0 Bristol City – Watford FCDownload

BBC:Watford climbed into the Championship’s play-off positions with a narrow victory over Bristol City at Vicarage Road.

Sky: Andrews scored from his side’s only shot on target as the Hornets maintained their unbeaten run at home under manager Tom Cleverley.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Bristol City 0

Watford 1 Bristol City 0 minute-by-minute report

‘We have a way of being able to find a win here at home’

Let’s just enjoy that feeling of winning when we probably shouldn’t have

Fran’s Watford Blog: After the superb showing on Friday, this performance was rather disappointing, but the three points were very welcome. The visitors had dominated the first half, but the Hornets were much better in the second with the defence restricting the chances for the visitors. Sadly, the forward play was lacking. Louza was named Man of the Match by the sponsors, but Bachmann deservedly won out in the fan vote. He had an excellent game, pulling off some crucial saves. Having been impressed by the football played by the Hornets on Friday, I thought that there were too many loose and misplaced passes in this game. But a win always sends the crowd home happy and we can just hope for a better performance for the visit of QPR on Saturday.

22nd November 2024- Championship, Plymouth Argyle 2 Watford 2

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1  2

Report: Plymouth Argyle 2-2 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Andre Gray scored twice against his former club to salvage a point for struggling Plymouth Argyle as they drew 2-2 with Watford.

Sky: Gray smashed home from just inside the box after being teed up by substitute striker Mustapha Bundu in the sixth and final minute of stoppage-time.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Plymouth 2 Watford 2

Plymouth 2 Watford 2 minute-by-minute report

Watford boss points at failure to be clinical as two points slip away

Watford frustrated by a shade of Gray seldom seen at Vicarage Road

‘It is progress and I cannot be angry with that performance’

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a very frustrating end to a game that the Hornets should have won. It was typical that Gray scored both of their goals, but it has to be said that they were both decent strikes. Sadly, Watford only had themselves to blame as they should have finished the game off. There were enough opportunities to do so, and they will be ruing the missed chances, particularly the Bayo one-on-one.

From the Rookery End: The fixture gods did not shine on Watford fans when a late November trip to Plymouth was announced, and got even worse with the move to the Friday evening. But the Hornets put in a great first half performance but couldn’t quite get it over the line after a very late goal from Andre Gray meant its was only 1 point a piece.

8th November 2024- Championship, Watford 1 Oxford United 0

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Watford 1-0 Oxford United – Watford FCDownload

BBC: A second-half goal by Vakoun Bayo sent Watford fourth in the Championship as they held on to beat Oxford United.

Sky: Tom Cleverley’s hosts moved above Burnley, West Brom and Millwall thanks to a 54th-minute strike from the Ivory Coast forward, who had scored four times at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend but only once before that this term.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Oxford 0

Watford 1 Oxford 0 – the action as it happened

Players delivered half-time tactical changes perfectly says Cleverley

BHappy: It’s a long old time since Oxford were here last.  Twenty six years…  twenty six years and one day, in fact. The Oxford United of 1998 were in a sorry state on and off the pitch;  notoriously they had turned up without a change kit and ran out in our two-tone blue number, a version of which is up in the loft somewhere.  On the pitch they were hardly more competent, supine in rolling over to accommodate a routine home win that could have seen a bigger margin of victory.  More than half of the intervening period has been spent in the fourth tier, with four years spent outside the Football League altogether.

Fran’s Watford Blog: As the team celebrated, “Freed from Desire” started playing over the tannoy, the Vicarage Road faithful followed the prompt with a joyous chorus of “Bayo’s on Fire” which saw the man himself appearing out of the crowd of players dancing towards the Rookey with a beaming smile on his face. My smile was equally broad at this point.

From The Rookery End: First, Jon, Kieran, Jason and Jordi chat outside Vicarage Road, after the 1-0 home win against Oxford United. With a few faces, who we don’t see much, being given a chance to shine by Tom Cleverley, there were a few players and performances to pick apart. 

5th November 2024- Championship, Swansea City 1 Watford 0

Swansea produce an online only programme. https://www.swanseacity.com/swansea-city-v-watford-2024-25-programme

Report: Swansea City 1-0 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Swansea City moved to within two points of the Championship play-off places as Myles Peart-Harris’ first goal for the club proved enough to see off Watford.

Sky: It was the fourth time in seven home league games this season that the Swans had kept a clean sheet as they pegged back fifth-placed Watford and moved up four places to 10th in the table.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Swansea 1 Watford 0

Swansea 1 Watford 0 minute-by-minute report

‘We paid Swansea too much respect’ admits Cleverley

A winning ticket on Saturday but a loser from the Watford tombola last night

Cleverley felt he didn’t give his team any ‘tactical edge’

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was another disappointing showing on the road. To be fair, the second half performance had been much improved, and the Hornets created several chances from which they could have snatched a point, but that would have felt a bit fortunate. After the goal fest on Saturday, it was a disappointment that we didn’t manage a shot on target over the 90 minutes. There was certainly more energy when Baah came on, but he made some poor choices. The first half was too cautious against a team that concedes few goals. Too often there were misplaced passes or a run into an opposition player who dispossessed them. The second half saw more forward breaks, but the Swansea defence was very well organised and restricted the opportunities to shoot.

From The Rookery End: after an amazing away trip to Sheffield, the Brigadier, Colin Mace, made the trip down to South Wales to see Watford lose 1-0 at Swansea.

2nd November 2024- Championship, Sheffield Wednesday 2 Watford 6

WFC.Net Goal Commentary: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Report: Sheffield Wednesday 2-6 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Vakoun Bayo scored four second-half goals in an astonishing individual display as Watford netted five times after the break to crush Sheffield Wednesday and end a run of five consecutive away league defeats.

Sky: Michael Smith quickly cancelled out Ryan Porteous’ opener before penalties from Tom Ince and Bayo put Watford in the driving seat. Bayo bagged his second and claimed the match ball either side of Pol Valentin’s reply for the Owls and then claimed his fourth in the closing stages.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Sheff Wed 2 Watford 6

Sheffield Wednesday 2 Watford 6 – how the action happened

Cleverley happy if incredible away win leads to increased expectations

Brilliant Bayo is four-midable as Watford end away hoodoo in style

Ince is ‘the player we have been missing in some of our inconsistent days’

Cleverley happy away fans saw five goals at their end

Bayo’s beautiful chip a result of excellent opposition analysis

Fans at Hillsborough witnessed a slice of Hornets history

BHappy: Not confident, no.  Not with our away record.  Not with our soft underbelly, our demonstrated tendency to get overwhelmed by sides that put us under pressure.  I wasn’t here expecting this sort of outcome… 

Fran’s Watford Blog: The post-match celebrations were joyous. Bayo picked up the match ball from the referee and filmed himself and the crowd who were blasting out “Bayo’s on Fire”. I was so thrilled for him. He has been given so much grief by the crowd for his failures in front of goal but has never hidden. He was absolutely superb on this occasion, a little bit of confidence allowing him to score goals that you know he would have missed on another occasion. He was man of the match by a country mile, but there were plenty of other great performances. I was impressed by Dwomah who fitted in very nicely so that we didn’t miss Sissoko. I was disappointed that Ebosele did not start, but he did very well when he came on. The score doesn’t tell the full story of the game as Wednesday had been tough opponents until the second goal went in when they collapsed.

From the Rookery End: Watford scored a rare SIX on the road and FOUR Vakoun Bayo goals made the LONG journey to Sheffield oh so worthwhile.

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-championship/03-november-2024/

28th November 2023- Championship, Watford 3 Norwich City 2

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-norwich-city/teams/484911

WFC.Net Jon Mark’s Goal Commentary: 1  2  3

Sky: Yaser Asprilla’s goal saw Watford come back from 2-0 down to beat Norwich 3-2 in an entertaining contest at Vicarage Road.

BBC: The Colombia international showed quick feet to dance the ball around Canaries goalkeeper George Long and finish to win it for the Hornets in the second half.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 3 Norwich City 2

Hornets show spirit, togetherness and character to battle back and beat Canaries

Early ‘cold shower’ helped Watford clean up their act

Livermore ‘always ready to sacrifice himself on the pitch for everyone at the club’

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a brilliant game of football.  We saw the best and the worst of this Watford team.  The failure to defend at set pieces and a fragile confidence allowed Norwich to take an early lead, which looked unsurmountable until a moment of magic from Koné gave the lads some belief.  It helped that the second Watford goal came almost immediately and from that moment it was Norwich who were struggling, although that was a result of a newfound determination in the Hornets to harry the opposition, not allowing them any space and being more careful and confident with the passing.  That resilience to come back from the two-goal deficit was very impressive and shows that this team is going in the right direction.  Koné scored a gorgeous goal and could well have had more.  He had an excellent game and is quickly becoming a favourite of mine.  But the man of the match award deservedly went to Livermore.  He was fantastic, calm and controlling the midfield.  The leadership that he shows is something that we have missed since Troy left and is a huge factor in our improved performances.