Nationwide Division 1
18/11/00
WATFORD 2 - 3 PRESTON NORTH END
WATFORD GOALSCORERS: Mooney (38), Palmer (45).PRESTON GOALSCORERS: Macken (31), Rankine (41), Anderson (54).
We were back to a full strength squad, Darren Ward was back, Micah Hyde was back, so, a possible win? If only that were so but we should not be downhearted, we should not give it all up. We played well but lost, all teams lose. Okay Fulham are moving away from us but they too will lose matches. Then along came Preston North End, hardly a name that strikes fear into the soul of any supporter. Still, they have already claimed a scalp by beating Fulham at Craven Cottage. The only team to do so this term. We should at least respect them, shouldn't we?
Preston look like a very decent side and deserved to come away from the Vic with all three points. David Moyes knows exactly what he is doing, him and his hard working ex-Man United and various other players will go far. Probably vying for an automatic promotion place if we keep slipping up. Remember last season? We were losing matches left, right and centre then we went into a depression and continued losing them. We need to build up confidance before the visit of Burnley on the 25th (My birthday, please win - that would be a nice present). This is the First division, we will be beaten by teams like Preston and Tranmere, who on their day could beat anyone. Take Leeds for instance.
Preston wanted blood, they were after another scalp. They weren't satisfied at sitting back and defending like perhaps Gillingham. Take nothing away from Preston who were clinical and stylish. With a full strength squad though we perhaps should have won this one at home. It wasn't to be however with Preston attacking straight away almost. Robert Page was caught by Anderson. He then blasted a difficult shot at goal which Baardsen did well to save. Tommy Smith was our attacking inspiration, he kept threatening down the right. It was the next move that he was envolved in. Smith collected a nod on and jinked past a defender and crossed in. Tommy Mooney appeared at the far post but headed wide under pressure.
Preston soon took the lead. Appleton crossed in for Jonathan Macken to touch the ball past Baardsen. Clinical stuff. The ex-United men seem to be prospering under Moyes and I wonder if Alex Ferguson regrets letting go of some of his promising youngsters. Macken's finish surely would have been worthy of a Dwight Yorke. We straight away went on the attack with Palmer hitting a shot wide. Then our goal came soon after, Smith again crossed in for Mooney to head home. Our confidance suddenly flooded back, Preston soon had their backs against the wall. Micah Hyde's cross (we've missed him) was inventive and let Smith run on the break. He then passed to Allan Nielsen, who drove in from close that crashed onto the post. From that we claimed a corner which went as far as Cox, his shot was well saved by Lucas. Denied. If we had scored then it would have swayed the game in our favour, as it was Preston went on to score.
With a little luck on their side with no linesmans flag, Meijer broke away on the right with our defense statuesque he crossed in for Rankine to nod past Baardsen after hitting the post and crossbar. This game was exciting stuff despite us going behind. Steve Palmer was having other ideas though and from about 35 yards out cracked a shot that i'm sure had a trail of fire behind it as it ripped into the roof of the net. It was a good job Lucas didn't get a hand to that, it probably would have taken him into the net with it! With the second half coming along and the scoreline 2-2 we could have pinched it but Preston were still after the win.
All the goals so far were superb, worthy of the Premiership. So, the third Preston goal had a lot to live up to. They were again fortuatous winning a throw that led to Anderson hitting the ball sweetly into the corner. That lived up to the other four, easily. Paul McKenna, probably hypnotised the Watford players in a trance like his namesake, had a great game. He attempted an impressive drive from a good 20 yards out that just went wide. North End were on the rampage, they were all over us and basically had us on the rack. We hadn't had any notable chances until Wooter was brought on for some attacking play. Unfortunately though even he couldn't pull us out of the rut, Preston did a good job of any threatening moves, snuffing them out. That was about summing up the rest of the match, we had run out of inspiration and Preston went back to Deepdale with maximum points.
Look we are three points clear in second place and okay we are losing ground on Fulham, if we get some confidance back it will only be a matter of time before we get back to winning ways. On this evidance we might get severely thumped in the Premiership but then havn't we learned from that? Surely we have to consentrate on the here and now and not get slack both supporters and players alike.
WATFORD: Baardsen 7, Cox 6, Robinson 6, Page 6, Ward 7, PALMER 8, Hyde 7, Nielsen 6, Smith 7 (Helguson 6), Mooney 7 (Wooter 6), Noel-Williams 6 (Smart 6).
PRESTON: Lucas 7, Kidd 6 (Edwards 6), Jackson 7, Gregan 7, Rankine 7, Parkinson 6, McKenna 9, Macken 8 (Robinson 5), Appleton 7, Meijer 7, Anderson 7 (Cartwright 6).
Hornet Man of the Match: Steve Palmer. Scored an absolute cracking goal and played well.
Att: 13,066
Nationwide Division 1
11/11/00
TRANMERE ROVERS 2 - 0 WATFORD
TRANMERE GOALSCORERS: Hill (19), Taylor (60).
After losing in midweek to Sheffield Wednesday, Prenton Park seemed hardly the place to obtain three points from. In fact one would have been fine after some pastings from the Rovers lot in recent years. What made matters worse is that we kept the same spirit as the Tuesday night match which is to say, not much. Tranmere on the other hand had plenty of spirit and probably deserved the win. It is the sort of spirit usualy seen in a Watford side, bad sadly it was lacking. Defensively we were caught out (again), especially Cox and Robinson. As for Rovers Jason Koumas, he looks very good and probably has a very good future ahead of him.
It was Tranmere's first win in ten attempts and it was only their third clean sheet but they really did have to work for it. Espen Baardsen was called into action early on when Yates blitzed Robbo. He fired a pass into the box that was well held by the keeper. Soon after Jason Koumas who, rightfully has been attracting the attention of Premier clubs went on the attack. His delightful pass to Scott Taylor threatened but skipper Page saw the danger and cleared. Koumas then sent a long range shot above the crossbar. The Hornets went on the offensive with our own jewel, Tommy Smith. His runs looked threatening and his marker found it difficult to keep track. He ran to the byline and passed the ball across the area only for it to go behind both Mooney and Noel-Williams, unlucky. Noel-Williams then had a decent header well saved by Murphy.
We were bored stiff by the Tranmere ball boys cleaning the ball whenever it went out for a throw, which took an age. They were cleaning as if it were a diamond or some precious metal, then, along came a trademark Challinor throw, yawn. It was one of those long throws that picked out Parkinson in the area, he only managed to hit the side netting. Unfortunately though they took the lead a few minutes later when Page was harshly adjudged to have fouled Allison. Then their goal came straight from the training ground, Koumas floated the ball into the area for Sean Flynn who, passed the ball across the goal for Hill to blast home. We came back and Easton had a good chance to draw level with a great shot after some good work. Murphy then made a good save to deny him. Rovers goalscorer Clint Hill was let off after an incident with Steve Palmer, he was lucky not to have received an early bath.
As soon as the second half got underway it seemed possible to get something out of the game but it was not so. We would have lost by a larger margin if it wasn't for Baardsen. He made an excellent string of saves to deny Rovers on a number of occasions, Allison, Koumas and Taylor were all foiled. For about a quarter of an hour into the second half it was all Tranmere and with constant pressure Rovers doubled their lead. Koumas was pivotal in the goal. Parkinson snatched the ball on the right and passed to Koumas, who sidesteped his marker to thread the ball to Scott Taylor. He made no mistake and drilled home. With nothing to lose GT bought on Nordin Wooter for Easton, who looked a bit out of place on the left. A couple of Watford fans yelled out when Easton was substituted but he didn't have a bad game and it was a bit unfair to receive that from his own supporters. Wooter made a huge impact on the game and suddenly Watford saw some decent attacking play.
The pressure took its toll on Tranmere and we started to look like a table topping side again. Tommy Mooney saw an effort saved on the line then Page hit the woodwork with the keeper beaten. Soon after a Richard Jobson freekick was headed down by Mooney into the path of Nielsen but his effort was well saved by Murphy's legs. The last notable attack by the Hornets came when Wooter and Robinson exchanged passes after a corner, he then crossed in for Page, who again headed against the post. It was definitely not to be our day, whether we can emerge from this slump soon, we will have to wait and see. We could do with a win against promotion chasing Preston on Saturday and close in on Fulham.
TRANMERE: Murphy 7, Yates 7, Hill 7, Challinor 6, Roberts 6, Hinds 6, Flynn 7, Parkinson 7 (Gill 5), Koumas 8, Taylor 7 (Rideout 6), Allison 6.
WATFORD: BAARDSEN 8, Cox 6, Robinson 6, Page 7, Jobson 7, Palmer 6, Nielsen 6, Smith 7, Easton 6 (Wooter 7), Mooney 6, Noel-Williams 7.
Hornet Man of the Match: Espen Baardsen. Made some superb saves to keep the score respectable.
Att: 8,858
Nationwide Division 1
7/11/00
WATFORD 1 - 3 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
WATFORD GOALSCORER: Smith (47). SHEFF WED GOALSCORERS: Jobson (37 og), Crane (65), Quinn (83).
Dull, dire, crap, naff and dour are words that spring imediately to mind when describing this match, if it was one team that deserves to halt our unbeaten run, Sheffield Wednesday are definitely NOT the team. Hey, i'm not bitter. Their approach is harsh and does not allow for an entertaining football match. I suppose they will need to adapt to First Division football for an outfit that will probably stay here for a good while I can only hope. Especially when you look down at the league table The Owls looked like taking a leaf out of Man City's books by taking a nose dive down the leagues. They lost several key players in the summer aswell but this allows for some younger players to emerge. Alan Quinn for one looks like a decent player as does Owen Morrison, missing from their line up. So at least a few good words to say about them then.
The question does arise though, what has happened to the Watford players? The team looked disjointed and out of sorts considering the thrashing we gave Grimsby only a few days ago. With Taylor wisely bringing in cover in defence in the form of Richard Jobson on-loan from Man City, who did okay. As for the rest of the team, unfortunately I can't say the same. It's easy to see that both Ward and Hyde are key in our promotion push. Still all teams have a slump in form sometime in the season, let's just hope it won't last too long.
As for Baardsen, well, he was probably an exception and looked on good form. He was tested early on with Wednesday's first decent attack. It came from Crane who launched the ball with ferocity from quite a distance, Baardsen was on his toes though, he made a superb reflex save to deny Crane. That seemed to be the summing up of the match though with Wednesday taking a strangle hold, we couldn't escape their vice like grip. Andy Booth, hardly a prolific goalscorer then suddenly found himself a free header that crashed against the bar. The away support suddenly arose themselves, they knew their team could pinch it. So, it was inevitable that they would go ahead and it was thanks to some awful defending by the Watford players, it was a basic mess that left Jobson putting the ball into his own net. The opposition putting a goal past us at home is rare enough let alone them scoring first which maybe was the turning point.
We just hoped for a little something special in the second half. Tommy Smith was the man to provide it. Mooney sent him clear with a clever flick on, he ignored Pressmans surge from his line and he was easily rounded for Smith to slot home. Ah, a nice bit of play we are used to seeing at the Vic these days. We might have doubled our score with some inventive stuff from the Hornets, Cox, Smith and Easton could have scored but it wasn't to be our day. Yup, Sheffield Wednesday scored, this time Crane got the decisive touch. The lanky streak got onto the end of a corner that went in via Baardsen. Very sloppy defending and needlessly given away. Another example of that was when Quinn bounded forward and evaded the challenge of Smith, who was the last man and scored. What is going on? Previous to this match we had only conceded two goals at home. Easton though tried in vain to get some sort of consolation with a fine shot that just went wide.
Overall not very convincing. That is something GT will probably sort out. As for Wednesday, we only need to play them once more, that's at Hillsborough. Revenge? I can only hope.
WATFORD: BAARDSEN 7, Cox 5, Perpetuini 5, Page 6, Jobson 6, Palmer 6, Nielsen 6, Wooter 6 (Easton 7), Mooney 7, Noel-Williams 6, Helguson 6 (Smith 7).
SHEFF WED: Pressman 7, Haslam 6, Hinchcliffe 7, Harkness 7 (Lescott 6), Walker 7, Quinn 7, Sibon 5 (Di Piedi 6), Hendon 6, Crane 7, Cooke 6, Booth 6.
Hornet Man of the Match: Espen Baardsen. A decent and commited display from the Watford keeper.
Att: 11,166
Nationwide Division 1
4/11/00
WATFORD 4 - 0 GRIMSBY TOWN
WATFORD GOALSCORERS: Nielsen (30) Mooney (33), (90) Noel-Williams (75)
Lennie Lawrence is back but this time under a different guise, yup, he's moved up a division. Such a shame Luton couldn't do the same (touch of sarcasm there). The fact is Luton are going nowhere in the second division and look like dropping down further, probably out of the football league entirely. We can only hope. Lawrence was sacked by the Luton board after a string of bad results but he is back in full force with Grimsby Town, turning around their fortunes. Grimsby, before going into this match were one of the form teams, considerably better form than Fulham and us the past few games. Could this mean then that our unbeaten run would come to an end? Far from it but Grimsby made it a very entertaining game from start to finish.
Let's just say that if any Grimsby Town supporters are reading this their team should avoid any relegation scraps this season. They have a good, hard-working squad that probably will win more games than lose if they played the way they did at the Vic. They wanted to take away our unbeaten status and with on loan signing David Nielsen up front it might have been achieveable with an early goal. Town started off brightly with Paul Groves inches wide then David Nielsen had a good effort. We seemed to be taken aback with their start but soon relaxed into the game, that's when it flowed nicely. Nordin Wooter's fine form continues, he tricked his way into a good position and crossed the ball, Noel-Williams just failed to connect with an overhead kick.
Espen Baardsen was back and was in top form after his ankle injury that has kept him out for 10 games. He did well to save a deflected shot from David Nielsen. Nielsen's best effort came when he rose to meet a corner which Perpetuini saved on the line. Perpetuini was envolved in the next Watford move, his cross was flicked on and Allan Nielsen stabbed home. The goal was ruled out due to the linesmans decision. The goal was soon to come though with constant Watford pressure Grimsby caved in. It was Gifton Noel-Williams doing all the donkey work, his strength is superb and despite being held by a Town defender he strode forward and crossed for Nielsen to score his fourth in a Watford shirt.
Allan Nielsen is prospering playing for Watford and it shows in his performances. He was pulling the strings in the Watford midfield and looks a steal at £2.5m from Spurs. His glowing performances has earned him a well deserved Denmark recall and at 29, still has a lot to offer. He was soon envolved again when he whipped in a cross that Ward firmly headed towards goal, Coyne was equally up to it though. The second goal was soon to come and it was Wooter's peach of a cross that met colossus Tommy Mooney's head and went flying in, 2-0. That was his fiftieth for Watford but he didn't want to stop at that. Heidar Helguson was plugging away as he does, he crossed in a sublime cross for Mooney to greet with a downward header which just went wide.
After the break Wooter could have had a goal when Coyne came out to head the ball away it only went as far as Wooter. He nipped forward but sent his effort wide. Baardsen was then called into action when Grimsby went on the attack, they were still up for the fight. McDermott's powerful 25 yard drive was well blocked by the young Norweigan, he then saved well from Stacy Coldicott's goal bound effort a few minutes later.
Ward was replaced by Easton soon after when he went off injured, Steve Palmer went back to defend alongside Page. The substitution didn't change the flowing, passing football we are used to see Watford adopting. The third goal was soon to come, Tommy Mooney's commitment gave Noel-Williams space with a pin-point pass. Noel-Williams finished well, when he slotted under Coyne to take the game well beyond Town. That was that, Grimsby lost their edge knowing that a three goal defecit was almost impossible to come back from. It looked as though 3-0 would be the final result until up popped Mooney to head home a corner to complete the rout.
Although the scoreline looked as though it was a stroll in the park for the Hornets, it wasn't, but you have to give Grimsby Town credit for their positive football and although they went away from Vicarage Road with nothing i'm sure they will be winning more than losing.
WATFORD: Baardsen 8, Cox 7, Perpetuini 7, Page 7, Ward 7 (Easton 7), Palmer 8, NIELSEN 10, Mooney 10, Wooter 9, Noel-Williams 9, Helguson 8.
GRIMSBY: Coyne 7, McDermott 7, Gallimore 6, Handyside 6, Campbell 6 (D Smith 6), Groves 6, Livingstone 6, Raven 5 (Murray 6), Coldicott 6, Allen 5 (Donovan 6), Nielsen 7.
Hornet Man of the Match: Allan Nielsen. An outstanding performance by the midfield man.
Att: 11,600
Worthington Cup 3rd Round
31/10/00
WATFORD 0 - 3 MANCHESTER UNITED
MAN UTD GOALSCORERS: Solskaer (11), (81) Yorke (53)
Manchester United usually put out either a youth team or reserve team in the Worthington Cup and we weren't wrong. The team did consist of a couple of noteable players, Yorke, Solskaer and Phil Neville all had a run out, but then they seem to be playing reserve football at the moment. The rest of the United team consisted of youth team players, no Beckham, no Giggs yup this was the Worthington Cup for you. Trouble is we were completely outplayed, outpassed and outclassed but then we were not playing to our full potential. As for Man Utd, they were certainly not going to make a game of it, to be fair the game was duller than listening to a William Hague speech.
The opening few minutes wasn't bad and we could have opened the scoring early on. Nordin Wooter looked good on the right his cross aimed for Allan Nielsen who beat Van Der Gouw but hit the side netting. Ward and Mooney both missed headers from corners, then Wallwork's freekick went just wide. Good stuff. With Micah Hyde out probably due to injury it left Nielsen and Palmer in midfield defending rather than attacking, we basically looked a bit ragged. It left us open with Robinson trying hard to cope with two United players, one of them, Luke Chadwick looked very impressive. He carved out the opener for United when he smashed the ball in, it took a rebound and Solskaer with his poachers instinct, thumped home.
Last season when we were comprehensively relegated from the Premiership our defense let us down on numerous occasions. That seemed to be the case when we conceded that early Man Utd goal, it took the wind out of our sails. Wooter did well in getting a few shots on goal though but that was about it. Then United went on the attack and we retreated, it was that man Yorke who ran rings around the defence before seeing his shot skim past the post with Chamberlain beaten. Now i'm the first to admit that I thoroughly dislike Manchester United, probably because of their success, you have to admire them also, the way they compete is top notch. With the away support cheering them on all the way it was just a matter of time before United would score. Mooney soon wasted an attempt when Wes Brown slipped. Then we were almost punished. Solskaer, who's baby face wouldn't look out of place in a pram tussled with Darren Ward and won, eh? Squared it for Yorke to shoot, that would have been 2-0 if it wasn't for Cox's goalline intervention.
Chadwick was at it again after half time his cross was met by Yorke who had an eternity in the box, 2-0 and United weren't even breaking sweat. I don't know what it is with us and the Worthington cup, many Watford supporters dislike the Worthington and I think the players tend to agree, with a goalless draw at home to Cheltenham, an absolute dour performance at home to Notts County and this? Yet we are still unbeaten in the league, perhaps it's that we are concentrating on. I'm not to bothered either, the league is all that matters, anything in the cups is a bonus.
Gifton Noel-Williams had a good effort held by Van Der Gouw, who didn't have many saves to make in the game. Yorke then went on the attack, his shot was blocked leaving Solskaer with an opportunity, his shot was well blocked by Cox. With two international, quality strikers on show, United always looked capable of scoring. Oh well, at least we can look forward to Grimsby. Manchester's third goal was emphatic and sealed victory for them, Solskaer took control of a long ball before breaking the offside trap, he cooly beat Chamberlain to make it well out of our reach. Helguson then came on for Noel-Williams and he made an impact on the game (and Van Der Gouw) immediately. Nielsen supplied him, he then jinked past the keeper but Van Der Gouw took him down. I'm still a bit unsure whether a sending off was the right decision but who am I to argue with the ref. Mooney scored his last penalty but missed this one, scooping it over. That was the last say we would have on the game and despite getting thoroughly beaten by a Manchester United 'B' team we should survive in the Premiership if we do get promoted this term. We are on track.
WATFORD: Chamberlain 6, Cox 7, Robinson 6 (Foley 6), Page 6, Ward 6, Palmer 6, Nielsen 7, Smith 6, Wooter 7 (Easton 6), Noel-Williams 6 (Helguson 6), Mooney 6.
MAN UTD: Van Der Gouw 6, P Neville 6, Wallwork 7 (Stewart 6), Clegg 7, O'Shea 7, Brown 6, Greening 6, Fortune 7 (Rachubka 6), Chadwick 8, Yorke 7, Solskaer 7
Hornet Man of the Match: Nordin Wooter. Was the only attacking inspiration in a lacklustre performance.
Att: 18,871
