Tag Archives: Craig Cathcart

26th August 2018- Premier League, Watford 2 Crystal Palace 1

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Referee:Anthony Taylor   Attendance:20,014

screen-shot-2016-09-12-at-23-36-22 clips of Jon Marks BBC 3CR commentary   Goals: 1   2

Watford Observer

RELIVE – Watford vs Crystal Palace: Perfect Premier League start continues for Hornets

Watford make it nine points from nine with battling Crystal Palace win

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson reflects on Watford defeat

Watford: Javi Gracia says it’s ‘special’ to get three consecutive Premier League wins

PICTURES: A selection of images from Watford’s historic win over Crystal Palace

Ben Foster: Javi Gracia’s style key to Watford’s flying Premier League start

Player ratings: Watford’s Christian Kabasele on song as Hornets down Crystal Palace

Watford: Javi Gracia pleased with Roberto Pereyra’s all-round contribution

Watford’s Christian Kabasele highlights importance of team spirit as winning run goes on

BBC SportThe Hornets maintained their perfect start in the Premier League to move behind Liverpool and level with Chelsea at the top of the table on goal difference.

skyWilfried Zaha struck 12 minutes from time at Vicarage Road to raise hopes of a visiting fightback but the hosts held on as Roberto Pereyra’s 53rd-minute strike and Jose Holebas’s freak second (71) proved enough.

TelegraphGraham Taylor never managed three straight wins at the start of a first division season, a run that carried Gracia’s team to second place ahead of Chelsea’s game against Newcastle United and pegs Watford above champions Manchester City for the week. They might not have played any of the title contenders yet, but amongst those for whom survival is the first thought – Brighton, Burnley and now Crystal Palace – Watford have been ruthless.

guardianThis snarl of a game was deep into stoppage time when Luka Milivojevic swung over one last hopeful corner kick and, with the majority in the arena anxiously holding their breath, Joel Ward leapt unchallenged into the six-yard box only to head wide of the post. The locals’ outpouring of relief at the miss was almost as deafening as the raucous delight which greeted the final whistle moments later.

FranThe build-up to this game was all about Harry Hornet who, in answer to a question from a journalist, had been branded a ‘disgrace’ by Roy Hodgson for an incident two years ago that I doubt Hodgson had actually ever seen, when Harry collapsed behind Zaha while the post-match handshakes were happening.  Sticking up for your player is all well and good but Roy lost all credibility when he claimed, with a straight face, that Zaha didn’t dive.  Sorry, Roy he gets booked for it, which was what provoked Harry’s action.  You couldn’t help but feel that Roy’s words would come back to haunt him.

BHappy imageIt feels more like March than August bank holiday weekend.  Palace have brought the traditional Croydon microclimate with them and it dampens our quick start before it gets going.  Only the hissing, spitting hot fat of this fixture burns on unperturbed, and it hadn’t needed Roy Hodgson ambling into a Harry-shaped animal trap in the visitors’ pre-match press conference to ignite it.  Our encounters have a bad-tempered, even spiteful undercurrent all of their own.

The Hornets NestIt only took four minutes for the game’s first talking point to occur. As Capoue tripped Zaha in the middle of the pitch, the referee awarded the midfielder a yellow card. At the time and due to where I was sitting I thought this decision was harsh. Replays show however that Capoue may have been lucky to stay on the pitch, after a potentially dangerous challenge.

FTRE imageIt was raining, but oh the Hornets kept on shining. 3 wins in a row for the Golden Boys and this one might have been a little trickier, but also sweeter due to a certain Wilf Zaha. 

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18th September 2016-Premier League, Watford 3 Manchester United 1

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clips of Jon Marks BBC 3CR commentary

Goal 1     Goal 2     Goal 3

Video and pictures of the third goal.

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Live report

Full time report: Sunday, September 18, 2016 has now joined the list of famous dates in Watford’s history after an incredible performance of desire, heart and an inspirational will to win

See how the Watford players rated in today’s win over Manchester United

In pictures

Watford boss Walter Mazzarri delighted with historic win over Manchester United

Watford boss Mazzarri hails impact of substitutes during famous win over Manchester United

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho blames refereeing decisions and bad luck on Watford defeat

Watford goalscorer Juan Zuniga says head coach Walter Mazzarri has brought a “winning mentality” to Vicarage Road

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Manchester United suffered their third defeat in a week as late goals from Juan Zuniga and Troy Deeney gave Watford a deserved Premier League win.

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An inspired change by Walter Mazzarri saw substitute Juan Camilo Zuniga sweep Watford back ahead with his first touch seven minutes from time, and Troy Deeney added a late penalty after Zuniga was fouled by Marouane Fellaini.

Watford caught them cold and started superbly.

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 I should perhaps preface this piece with a warning; specifically, surprisingly and somewhat contrary to the popular line I’m not going to concentrate on the visitors.

Fran’s report: It feels like the 80s all over again and I never thought I would be able to say that.

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Watford fans could have been forgiven for thinking things couldn’t get much better after last week’s extraordinary comeback at West Ham. Well, they just did.

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21st November 2015- Premier League, Watford 1 Manchester United 2

Referee:Robert Madley
Attendance:20,702
https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-man-utd/teams/341315
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Troy Deeney’s last-minute own goal gave injury-hit Manchester United victory over Watford at Vicarage Road. Deeney looked to have earned a point for the Hornets with a late penalty, but then slid home a Bastian Schweinsteiger cross. Memphis Depay – starting a Premier League match for the first time since 4 October – netted United’s opener, volleying home an Ander Herrera cross.

Watford equalised with three minutes remaining through Deeney’s penalty after Odion Ighalo was brought down by Marcos Rojo – the first goal United had conceded in nearly 11 hours of football in all competitions.

There was one moment of serious concern for United. Young was caught in possession by Etienne Capoue, who presented Odion Ighalo with a clear opening only for the Nigerian marksman to shoot over midway through the first half.

Those final few minutes will be hard for Troy Deeney to absorb. Watford’s captain appeared to have rescued a point for the hosts when he shattered David de Gea’s magnificent resistance with a penalty in the 87th minute and it seemed that the day would end in frustration for United, who had spurned so many chances after Memphis Depay’s early goal. Yet the sucker punch came when Deeney’s attempt to clear Bastian Schweinsteiger’s shot ended with the ball trickling over the line. “It was painful,” Quique Sánchez Flores said.

It’s cold.  Bloody cold.   This sort of detail doesn’t feature in any statistical record of a season, but it should, it can be a defining piece of information.  Think… Torquay in the Auto Windscreens Shield.  Fulham on the last day of the season in 1998.  Any visit to bloody Oldham.  Characterised by the weather. Lest this slip through the cracks of your memory, should soccerbase fail to expand their database to accommodate weather conditions, let it be recorded for posterity that it’s cold.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2015-11-21
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/premier-league/23-november-2015/

17th October 2015- Premier League, Watford 0 Arsenal 3

Referee: Mike Jones
Attendance: 20,721

Arsenal produced a superb second-half display to defeat Watford and move into second place in the Premier League.

Arsenal caught Watford on the counter several times in the second half, and the Hornets fell behind just after the hour mark. Capoue went down on the edge of the Gunners box with Watford committed forward, but the referee was unmoved and Arsenal broke through Cazorla and Ozil.

Watford’s previous games had pointed clearly towards the difficulty of breaking them down and it was soon apparent that a proud record of having not conceded in the Premier League from open play was no fluke. Flores’ system is already well honed and their collective work-rate was evident as Arsenal took a predictable hold on possession.

Watford made Arsenal work for their win, but the Gunners had too much for the Hornets in the second half, and they reclaim second spot in the Premier League table.

Watford approached their four previous home games with such caution that a combined total of two goals were scored in what became a 360-minute improvised symphony of sterility. They played a different tune here and Vicarage Road duly witnessed more attacking action in the opening half-hour than in the previous two months combined. Aaron Ramsey, who clipped the bar after running on to Sánchez’s sublime chipped pass, came closest to scoring but the home side had their chances, with the previously deadeye Odion Ighalo, scorer of their last five Premier League goals, missing the most glaring after half an hour when he was played in by Ikechi Anya. But, having been so conservative against some less daunting opponents, this seemed like a dangerous occasion to start taking risks.

“Oh look, it’s Arsenal!” you think, in the same way you might if you passed, say, Dermot O’Leary in the street. Except I get the impression that Dermot O’Leary is a reasonably good egg who might not mind if you smiled and said hello*, whereas Arsenal have long since transcended those kind of everyday niceties and would undoubtedly consider any acknowledgement of your existence beneath them. They’re very much, you know, in the cloud. They’re a football club in the same way that U2 at Wembley is a rock’n’roll gig…that is, very much so or not at all, depending on your point of view. (Go on, have a guess.) Except that they aren’t U2, obviously. They’re some b-list stadium atrocity, overwrought and overblown. They’re Muse.

24th January 2015-Championship, Watford 7 Blackpool 2

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Odion Ighalo scores four as Watford hammer Blackpool 7-2

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Watford’s Odion Ighalo scores four in seven-goal rout of Blackpool

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The 7-2 victory over Blackpool was the sixth time Watford had scored seven in a Vicarage Road league fixture since 1945

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