WFC.Net Jon Marks goal commentary: 1

Official site: Match dashboard

Sky: Watford held out for a 1-1 draw at home to Stoke despite losing Vakoun Bayo early in the second half to a straight red card for lashing out at Luke McNally.

BBC: Jake Livermore gave the Hornets the lead from close range with his first goal for the club, but Ryan Mmaee turned his marker before firing home the equaliser.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Stoke City 1

Ten-man Watford secure deserved point against Stoke

‘The spirit was unbelievable in the stadium. I got some goosebumps’

Performance from Morris was anything but minor

Spirit shown against Stoke put right most of the wrongs of the Boxing Day blip

OPINION-Nobody wants to batter officials, but yesterday was simply too bad

BHappy: Comes to something when a 1-1 draw against Stoke – no disrespect intended, but the sort of result that even an ardent follower of the Championship would skip over without a second thought – was so full of the stuff, surely, that we all go for?  Adrenaline, drama, emotion, heroes, villains?

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a difficult game.  It was great to see Livermore score his first goal.  He has been so valuable for us since his return to match fitness.  It was also great to see Chakvetadze put in a storming performance that deserved a goal and would have produced one but for the fingertips of Jack Bonham.  Having been disappointed with Asprilla on Boxing Day, I thought that he was a lot more positive going forward.  The goal that was conceded was a little unlucky as the Porteous deflection wrongfooted Dele-Bashiru and gave Mmaee space to take the shot.  But, ultimately, the game changed when Bayo was sent off.  His reaction was foolish, but the strange decisions of the referee had wound a lot of the players up at this point.  I was just glad that they calmed down after that and mounted a tremendous rearguard effort that kept Stoke at bay while the Hornets continued to look for a winner.  They were bolstered by the Vicarage Road crowd who were incredibly noisy, roaring the boys on.  It was great to be a part of it.

From the Rookery End: After an away win at Blackburn, a horrendoous home loss to Bristol City, Watford stood firm against Stoke to get a 1-1 home draw. Jon, Jason and Mike met after the game to discuss how the last few games fit together, quickly agree the ref was poor but the Hornets showed something new, even with the obvious frailaties were clear to see.