Tag Archives: Mar16

16th March 2021- Championship, Rotherham United 1 Watford 4

BBC Sport: Watford strengthened their grip on second place in the Championship as they scored four goals against relegation-threatened Rotherham.

Sky Sports: Chile international Francisco Sierralta opened the scoring with his first goal in English football and further efforts from Ismaila Sarr and Ken Sema put Xisco Munoz’s men firmly in the ascendancy at the break. After Michael Smith had a penalty saved for the Millers, Freddie Ladapo pulled a goal back in spectacular fashion but Dan Gosling swiftly responded to extinguish any hopes of a comeback.

BHappy: At the centre of much of it, and critical to all three of the first half goals, was Philip Zinckernagel.  The Dane’s startling record in Norway came with the caveat that, you know, it was in Norway;  a slight concern that he’d left Denmark at the age of 24 without having pulling up any trees.  He’s shown flashes of quality before now, but this was a startling performance… for the first, he cut back onto his right foot and dropped a cross onto Sierralta’s head.  The Chilean held off his marker to dump the ball past Blackman, stranded on his line, spent a couple of seconds recovering his senses and then rose with what is becoming a trademark two-fisted bellow.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56329360

16th March 2019- FA Cup Sixth Round, Watford 2 Crystal Palace 1

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Referee:
Kevin Friend
Attendance:
18,104
1-0
2-1

FA Cup Report: Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace

Gomes: “I Feel So Proud”

Gray: “A Little Bit More Special”

Gracia: “It’s Something Amazing For Us”

Gallery: Watford v Crystal Palace

Affleck’s Angle: Deulofeu’s Determined Defence

Watford and Crystal Palace going head to head in FA Cup quarter final

Gracia On Gray: “I Am Happy For Him”

Watford beat Crystal Palace in FA Cup quarter-finals thanks to Andre Gray winner

Watford vs Crystal Palace: Javi Gracia praises Heurelho Gomes after FA Cup quarter-final triumph

Watford vs Crystal Palace: Javi Gracia stresses the Hornets’ strength as a team

Adrian Mariappa says Watford are not getting carried away over FA Cup semi-final

Andre Gray said his goal for Watford against Crystal Palace was ‘special’

Second-half substitute Andre Gray scored two minutes after coming on to send Watford into the FA Cup semi-finals with victory over Crystal Palace at Vicarage Road.

Gray’s goal 11 minutes from time booked Watford’s place at Wembley for the second time in four years after a passionate quarter-final at Vicarage Road, which the hosts were good value for edging. They took advantage of increasing first-half momentum to move ahead on the half-hour when Etienne Capoue was teed up by Craig Cathcart after Vincent Guiata missed a punch from a corner. But Michy Batshuayi then levelled after half-time following a horrible mistake from Adrian Mariappa.

As it happened

Nearly 35 years since their solitary appearance in the FA Cup final under Graham Taylor, Watford now have the chance under Gracia to emulate that famous side by reaching the Wembley showpiece match in May for a second time. The Spaniard’s name reverberated around the stadium at the final whistle as the veteran goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes – who is planning to take up a new career as a pastor at the end of the season – wept tears of joy. “When the team was suffering in the second half they were very important for the team,” Gracia said of his club’s fans. “I think they really lifted our players.”

It had been a long time coming, but finally Watford have their revenge. After losing to Crystal Palace in the 2013 Championship play-off final and the 2016 FA Cup semi-final, they have made it past their bogey team. As the crowd sang loud at the final whistle, Javi Gracia’s side are on their way to Wembley. And in the process they have consigned Roy Hodgson to another season without an FA Cup semi-final appearance.

The tide of confidence was rolling by 11.15. That’s when “it’s bloody Palace, isn’t it?” was swept over and crushed. But in effect the build up to that wave, the little ripples, started at least a week earlier as Palace lost to Brighton, Southampton and Newcastle earned unlikely wins and the Eagles started looking over their shoulders again. So when Zaha pulled a calf muscle in training it was never going to be risked.

The 1881 had put incredible efforts into making sure that there would be a tremendous atmosphere.  When we took our seats, the ground was already full of people waving flags.  The big screen was showing footage of earlier quarter-finals.  I enjoyed watching John Barnes lobbing Tony Coton in 1984, but it is the Arsenal game in 1987 that always comes to mind.  I loved that day out at Highbury.

Prior to the game there was a lot of talk about Watford refusing to give Crystal Palace fans the entire Vicarage Road End and instead allocate them the absolute minimum number of tickets they could. This involved a lot of netting having to be put out in the stand…

https://audioboom.com/posts/7204179-gray-area-9-41

Watford’s road to the FA Cup final: Andre Gray strike beats Crystal Palace in quarter-final

On this day in pictures: Watford beat Crystal Palace to reach FA Cup semi-final

16th March 2010- Championship, Watford 2 Ipswich Town 1

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Will Hoskins’ late strike helped Watford edge away from the drop zone and dragged Ipswich back into trouble. Henri Lansbury opened the scoring for the Hornets when his 35-yard free-kick eluded everyone and sailed straight in.

Yes, yes, Will Hoskins. We’ll come to him in a moment, for we must first pause to salute Lord Doyley. The bravura pirouette in the first half, followed by splendid left-footed cross onto the head of Heidar Helguson at the far post, was the stuff of ten minute standing ovations. But the defending often deserved a similar response: one early Ipswich attack bounded eagerly over the halfway line, discovered Jay Demerit too far forward, threatened to burst dangerously into the penalty area…and then found itself quietly shepherded to somewhere near the corner flag, any spark of danger suffocated by a gigantic, inescapable wet blanket. He must be utterly miserable to play against, ninety minutes of having your bright ideas tied up in red tape by the local health and safety officer.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2010-03-16
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-championship/16-march-2010/

16th March 2004- New Division One, Watford 2 Derby County 1

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BSAD imageBSAD report: The second half picked up where the first half finished, with the Hornets in the ascendancy. Devlin might have had a penalty having been brought down by Boertien, but better was to follow on fifty-two minutes. Helguson flicked on a long ball from stand in skipper Neal Ardley, who also defied his critics with a determined display at right back. Gavin Mahon picked up the flick and bulldozed his way into the box, where he applied a neat finish to give the Hornets the lead. Get in there. Yes, Yes and YES!

Screen Shot 2018-03-12 at 19.03.19Screen Shot 2018-03-12 at 19.02.17

More games from 16th March at https://oldwatford.com/tag/mar16

16th March 2002- New Division One, Watford 3 Coventry City 0

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Went off half time 2-0 up after another headed goal from Brown having dominated the first half. Mahon, in particular, had been a star in defence but, on the rare occasion that the boyz had given, or lost the ball, they went looking for it as unit, and worked very, very hard. Delightful stuff.

Still, let’s enjoy it. Sure, the scoreline gives little indication of what a hard-fought contest this was, nor that there were periods when Coventry were clearly on top. Until the third goal went in, we were never comfortable. That’s a good thing, though. We need challenges right now, we need to be tested, we want to get into the habit of meeting opponents head-on rather than hiding away. Just as we’d imagined that we’d seen all that Luca Vialli’s Watford had to offer – some gorgeous football, made mediocre by limp performances and stupid results – it has revealed a darker, more threatening side. A First Division mentality, if you like. A winning mentality, certainly.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2002-03-16
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-1/16-march-2002/