Tag Archives: Feb2

2 Feb 2023- Watford Observer’s Oliver Phillips passes away

Oli was the chief writer about Watford FC for the Watford Observer for many many years. In the days before the internet fans would buy the paper in their thousands on a Friday to get all the latest news from Vicarage Road and read Oli’s ‘Just a Thought’ column. In 1991 he wrote the Official Club Centenary book. To those of us of a certain age he was as well known and linked with the club as Luther Blissett or Graham Taylor.

Official site tribute

Former sports editor Oli Phillips dies aged 81

The gifted journalist who became a Watford legend

‘A light has gone out in the press box at Vicarage Road’

Readers and ex-colleagues remember legendary Watford FC correspondent

Just one week before he died the club announced that they would be naming the Media Suite after Oli.

Official site: Media Suite: Club Honours Oliver Phillips

1st February 2020- Premier League, Watford 2 Everton 3

Referee: Craig Pawson
Attendance: 21,229

1-0

2-0

Watford lose to Everton in quest for Premier League survival

Watford throw away two-goal advantage as Everton triumph at Viacarge Road

Nigel Pearson ‘exceptionally disappointed’ after Watford lose to Everton

Nigel Pearson explains Nathaniel Chalobah change in Watford’s defeat to Everton and doesn’t regret ‘positive’ substitutions

Watford player ratings following home defeat to Everton

Craig Cathcart thinks Watford have themselves to blame for Everton loss

Theo Walcott struck an injury-time winner as 10-man Everton came back from two goals down to stun Watford in a topsy-turvy encounter at Vicarage Road.

Adam Masina fired the hosts into a 10th-minute lead before Roberto Pereyra made it 2-0 three minutes before the break.

An announcement of two minutes’ added time was about to come over the Tannoy when Everton clawed a goal back. A Lucas Digne corner was poked in by Yerry Mina after his initial header was forced towards goal by Mason Holgate.

Two minutes later, deep into injury time now, another corner and Mina is criminally allowed to nod in at the far post by a sleeping Cathcart. There’s so much wrong with this… Mina being allowed to dominate the area, our heads not being in it. Some of these things would be abetted with a big ugly centre back, a Ben Gibson or a Craig Dawson maybe, but not all. It’s a maddening and horribly expensive two minutes.

There was another half chance to grab a winner for the Hornets when they got the ball into the Everton box, but no Watford man could get a meaningful touch on it. The Hornets had been pushing for the winner, but it was the visitors who took all three points with a goal in the 90^th minute. Masina lost out in the middle of the pitch, Richarlison advanced and played in Kean who moved the ball on to Walcott, at first he appeared to have run wide of the goal, but that proved to be wishful thinking on my part as he finished past Foster.

Join a shell-shocked Jon, Jason, Mike and DCW as they try to make sense of another Premier League fixture decided by a late, late goal. In the latest episode of From the Rookery End, the boys attempt to work out where it all went wrong, as Everton came from two goals down to snatch an unlikely three points.

https://www.11v11.com/competitions/premier-league/2020/matches/

2nd February 2019- Premier League, Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Watford 0

Referee:
Simon Hooper
Attendance:
30,414

Watford unable to get back to winning ways after 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion

Ben Foster stars again as Watford pick up Brighton & Hove Albion point

A selection of images from Watford’s draw at Brighton & Hove Albion

Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster thinks he could play for a few more seasons

Watford manager Javi Gracia said goalkeeper Ben Foster produced a “special performance” after preventing Brighton from claiming their first league win of 2019.

Watford defended stoutly but lacked imagination in attack, and failed to register a single shot on target across the 90 minutes.

This will not live long in the memory. Except perhaps for Ben Foster, the man who has made more saves than anyone else in Premier League history.

It was Brighton who were almost celebrating a winner 10 minutes from time. Gross’s inviting cross from the left was met by a flicked header from Locadia but Foster somehow leapt to turn it behind. He followed up that save by unconventionally keeping out Duffy’s acrobatic attempt with his feet and then smothered an effort from the onrushing Andone. Yves Bissouma was also narrowly off-target in the dying moments.

Much as you want to win, there’s always something thrilling about being in someone else’s ground when a game that’s in the balance suddenly tips and the noise starts echoing around the stands. Sets the adrenaline going, makes eventual victory all the more vivid. The noise at the Amex still seems to carry with it something of what this club nearly became, of building bonfires and Hereford and all of that. It’s still there, the knowledge that none of this might’ve existed. The pre-match build-up offers somewhat one-sidedly edited highlights of previous meetings, and the big screen malfunctions to obscure half of the picture, which seems a fitting reminder of the sightlines from both the away corner at the Goldstone and the temporary seating at Withdean. It’s thirty years since I was a student here; more than twenty since Fans United. This is a brilliant ground for a proud city. We should all count our blessings more often.

The most entertaining moment of the first half came on the half hour as Holebas battled with March on the wing and ended up giving away the first corner of the game. In typical Jose manner he then walked towards the goal to defend the set piece, looking furious as only he can. He was looking for someone or something to blame, and suddenly focussed on his gloves which were ripped from his hands and thrown behind the goal line. I realise that this loses a lot in translation, but it caused great amusement to the Holebas fans in our party.

The second half was pretty much exactly like the first. Hardly anything happened and the only efforts on target came from the hosts.

2nd February 2014- Championship, Watford 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 0

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

Watford earned only their second win in 16 Championship games with victory over play-off hopefuls Brighton.

Anya fired the Hornets into an early lead with an angled shot across Tomasz Kuszczak and Beppe Sannino’s side were assured of their first win of 2014 on the hour mark when Forestieri made the most of a poor backpass from Gordon Greer.

Watford’s effective pressing game was a feature of their performance and Giuseppe Sannino, the head coach, said: “I knew that Brighton before this game were the best team in terms of goals conceded away from home and if we score two goals it’s because the pressing was very good. But also the desire of my lads and the effort that we were able to put into the game – we worked our socks off today.”

Watford did what they could not do against Nottingham Forest in midweek and held on to a 2-0 lead at home to Brighton. Their manager, Giuseppe Sannino, said: “I’m happy for my team because we came from three games where we didn’t get what we deserved.”

2nd February 2013-Championship, Watford 2 Bolton Wanderers 1

Screen Shot 2017-02-02 at 18.22.33.png

Matej Vydra scored his 19th Championship goal of the season as Watford came from behind to beat Bolton and move to within a point of the automatic promotion places.

Screen Shot 2017-02-02 at 18.25.41.png

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2013-02-02

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-championship/02-february-2013/

2nd February 2010- Championship, Watford 3 Sheffield United 0

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

Daily Telegraph, 3 Feb 2010

Poor defending contributed to the Blades’ defeat as Tom Cleverley took advantage of sloppy play to open the scoring before half-time. Heidar Helguson capitalised on more slack defending from the visitors to score the second before Don Cowie completed the scoring from a free-kick.

How very badly did we need to play against a side as accommodating as the Blades. For twenty minutes we looked quite tentative, and then… it wasn’t merely a matter of noting that our opponents weren’t as good as their position suggested. More that a United side comprised of a pick-and-mix of second tier journeymen (many of them ours…) scrawled this in large, difficult to miss paint-spray all over their penalty area every time a ball went anywhere near it. Nonetheless, it took an unchallenged flap from Mark Bunn and a couple of unexploited free headers before we realised that this was there for the taking, and took it increasingly confidently.