The Hornets finally ran out of luck in what has to be one of the most tedious matches of the year.
Watford never really mounted the waves of attacking football that got them to the finals and each side seemed content to let the match be decided by penalty kicks which, eventually, it was.
Watford's lowest moments this season have come when playing back on defense rather than the relentless attacks that have served them well. Today was no exception. The first half saw no saves needed from Julian Speroni and the Hornets' fortunes went from bad to worse when Matej Vydra went down with ten minutes left in the first half and had to be pulled at half-time.
The Eagles did manage one flurry of attacks and corners late in the second half, but Manuel Almunia rose to the occasion to bat away all Palace scoring chances.
Two knackered squads squared off for the extra 30 minutes and it looked like it was headed to a shoot-out when a weary Marco Cassetti hauled down Wilfreid Zaha in the penalty area. Former Hornet Kevin Phillips slotted the game winner with fifteen minutes left and that was all she wrote.
It's been a great season. Watford probably should have been out before this, but they always fought back and played entertaining football.
Here's to a great season and an even better one next year.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
Championship Semi-Final Leg 2: Watford 3 - 1 Leicster City (3-2 agg)
Sometimes this gets too exciting. Remember the old canard about the Chinese symbol being the same for 'crisis' and 'opportunity'? No?
Just when you thought we were going into extra time, crisatunity struck.
The home leg started well for the Hornets with Matej Vydra evening the aggregate fifteen minutes into the match. Credit Cristian Battocchio for the assist. The Foxes regained the lead four minutes later when David Nugent, owner of the lone goal from Thursday, went up unmarked from a corner kick and headed in a go-ahead.
The Hornets waited until the 65th minute to counter when Vydra got his second goal of the match. I levitated off the bed (in bed because this damn thing started at 6:30 am St. Louis time). There it stood until this:
Six minutes into injury time, on the verge of extra time and maybe a penalty shoot-out, and one of the lamest fouls I've seen called sets up the penalty kick. Anthony Knockaert dives like the Frenchman he is when Marco Cassetti blows on him, and Watford is now a penalty kick away from staying down.
All eyes on Manuel Almunia. Is he injury-prone? Yes. Is he ungraceful? Yes. Does he save the shot with his BOOT and the rebound with his FACE? YES!!! Watford counters - Fernando Forestierri to Jonathan Bond to Troy Deeney, who started the season in jail and the tie on suspension, and Watford is going to Wembly!!
After three days off and a training session in Spain, they'll be back to battle it out against Ian Holloway's Crystal Palace (2-0 over BHA) on Memorial Day for the last promotion spot to the Premiership. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.
Just when you thought we were going into extra time, crisatunity struck.
The home leg started well for the Hornets with Matej Vydra evening the aggregate fifteen minutes into the match. Credit Cristian Battocchio for the assist. The Foxes regained the lead four minutes later when David Nugent, owner of the lone goal from Thursday, went up unmarked from a corner kick and headed in a go-ahead.
The Hornets waited until the 65th minute to counter when Vydra got his second goal of the match. I levitated off the bed (in bed because this damn thing started at 6:30 am St. Louis time). There it stood until this:
Six minutes into injury time, on the verge of extra time and maybe a penalty shoot-out, and one of the lamest fouls I've seen called sets up the penalty kick. Anthony Knockaert dives like the Frenchman he is when Marco Cassetti blows on him, and Watford is now a penalty kick away from staying down.
All eyes on Manuel Almunia. Is he injury-prone? Yes. Is he ungraceful? Yes. Does he save the shot with his BOOT and the rebound with his FACE? YES!!! Watford counters - Fernando Forestierri to Jonathan Bond to Troy Deeney, who started the season in jail and the tie on suspension, and Watford is going to Wembly!!
After three days off and a training session in Spain, they'll be back to battle it out against Ian Holloway's Crystal Palace (2-0 over BHA) on Memorial Day for the last promotion spot to the Premiership. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.
GO YOU 'ORNS!!!!
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Championship Semi-Final Leg 1: Leicester City 1-0 Watford
A late set-piece put Leicester a goal ahead as the second leg comes back to Vicarage Road.
The Hornets played a refreshed Manuel Almunia at goal and Alex Geijo plus Matej Vydra up front for a suspended Troy Deeney.
As expected, Leicester pressured Watford at the start of both halves but to no avail as the Hornets rope-a-doped them into exhaustion. But Watford could not capitalize, a tentative Vydra missing a golden opportunity against Kasper Schmeichel at the hour mark.
David Nugent did not miss heading in a free-kick with nine minutes left and the Foxes held their lead.
The second leg kicks off Sunday at 6:45 am St. Louis time. An aggregate tie will go into a 30 minute period of extra time, with the tie-breaker going to penalty kicks.
The Hornets played a refreshed Manuel Almunia at goal and Alex Geijo plus Matej Vydra up front for a suspended Troy Deeney.
As expected, Leicester pressured Watford at the start of both halves but to no avail as the Hornets rope-a-doped them into exhaustion. But Watford could not capitalize, a tentative Vydra missing a golden opportunity against Kasper Schmeichel at the hour mark.
David Nugent did not miss heading in a free-kick with nine minutes left and the Foxes held their lead.
The second leg kicks off Sunday at 6:45 am St. Louis time. An aggregate tie will go into a 30 minute period of extra time, with the tie-breaker going to penalty kicks.
Saturday, May 04, 2013
Watford 1-2 Leeds United 23-8-15 77 pts.
You want drama?
The ups & downs started before the teams even took the field but ended with the Hornets bound for King Power Stadium and a playoff for the last promotion spot to the Premier League.
Watford, though playing Leeds on the pitch were, in reality, playing Hull City in the league table, needing to best the Tigers' result against Cardiff City to secure automatic promotion.
Injury-prone keeper Manuel Almunia lived down to his reputation and injured himself in warm-ups, calling for the start of Jonathan Bond between the sticks and the injuries continued with Leeds' Steve Morison coming off after ten minutes and then Bond himself dislocating his shoulder in the twentieth minute in a collision with Ikechi Anya. After Bond was stretchered off with oxygen, 19-year old Irishman Jack Bonham made his professional debut.
United tested the young keeper and finally Dominic Poleon tapped in a soft goal from two yards out after miscommunication between Bonham & Joel Ekstrand with three minutes left in the regulation 45. The injuries, however, called for sixteen(!) minutes of added time in the first half and Watford took the opportunity to equalize with Almen Abdi scoring five minutes into the extra time off an assist by Anya.
An hour is a long time to play a half and fatigue & frustration caught up with Troy Deeney who was carded late in the half for childishly kicking the ball away from play. This would come back to haunt the Hornets in the second half.
Meanwhile in Hull . . .
Cardiff City manager and ex-Hornet Malky Mackay was doing his best to get Watford into the Premier League. The teams went into half time nil-nil, but as the Watford match had been delayed by injury, by the time Watford and Leeds went into the dressing rooms, Frazier Campbell had put the Bluebirds up a goal and Watford were temporarily in second place.
That lasted all of nine minutes.
Hull equalized and eventually went ahead 2-1 a bit after the hour mark, leaving Watford reliant on help from the Welsh side.
With a yellow already, Leeds pressured Troy Deeney and it paid off when a late challenge earned Deeney a second yellow and a sending off. Deeney, who's had his own roller-coaster year, starting it in prison for assault (or as the Brits so genteelly put it, affray), will miss the first leg of the semis as well.
To summarize:
With thirty minutes left to play, a short-handed Watford must win and Cardiff must equalize.
Watford did their damnedest, requiring a fantastic save by Patrick Kenyon from a Matej Vydra deflection. Cardiff did their part as well, despite ex-Hornet Andrew Taylor being sent off. A Hull City penalty kick was saved by David Marshall in added time and then, in dramatic fashion, Nicky Maynard was awarded a penalty kick for Cardiff on the last play of the match and earned the draw for the league champs.
Needing a single goal, Watford instead, at the ninety minute mark, let Ross McCormack through for a chip over Bonham's head after he came off the line and that was all she wrote.
The first leg of the semi-finals will be a return to Leicester, where Watford won the second of their regular season matches last Friday, on Thursday, May 9th. Kickoff will be 1:45 St. Louis time. The second leg at Vicarage Road will be Sunday, May 12th.
The ups & downs started before the teams even took the field but ended with the Hornets bound for King Power Stadium and a playoff for the last promotion spot to the Premier League.
Watford, though playing Leeds on the pitch were, in reality, playing Hull City in the league table, needing to best the Tigers' result against Cardiff City to secure automatic promotion.
Injury-prone keeper Manuel Almunia lived down to his reputation and injured himself in warm-ups, calling for the start of Jonathan Bond between the sticks and the injuries continued with Leeds' Steve Morison coming off after ten minutes and then Bond himself dislocating his shoulder in the twentieth minute in a collision with Ikechi Anya. After Bond was stretchered off with oxygen, 19-year old Irishman Jack Bonham made his professional debut.
United tested the young keeper and finally Dominic Poleon tapped in a soft goal from two yards out after miscommunication between Bonham & Joel Ekstrand with three minutes left in the regulation 45. The injuries, however, called for sixteen(!) minutes of added time in the first half and Watford took the opportunity to equalize with Almen Abdi scoring five minutes into the extra time off an assist by Anya.
An hour is a long time to play a half and fatigue & frustration caught up with Troy Deeney who was carded late in the half for childishly kicking the ball away from play. This would come back to haunt the Hornets in the second half.
Meanwhile in Hull . . .
Cardiff City manager and ex-Hornet Malky Mackay was doing his best to get Watford into the Premier League. The teams went into half time nil-nil, but as the Watford match had been delayed by injury, by the time Watford and Leeds went into the dressing rooms, Frazier Campbell had put the Bluebirds up a goal and Watford were temporarily in second place.
That lasted all of nine minutes.
Hull equalized and eventually went ahead 2-1 a bit after the hour mark, leaving Watford reliant on help from the Welsh side.
With a yellow already, Leeds pressured Troy Deeney and it paid off when a late challenge earned Deeney a second yellow and a sending off. Deeney, who's had his own roller-coaster year, starting it in prison for assault (or as the Brits so genteelly put it, affray), will miss the first leg of the semis as well.
To summarize:
With thirty minutes left to play, a short-handed Watford must win and Cardiff must equalize.
Watford did their damnedest, requiring a fantastic save by Patrick Kenyon from a Matej Vydra deflection. Cardiff did their part as well, despite ex-Hornet Andrew Taylor being sent off. A Hull City penalty kick was saved by David Marshall in added time and then, in dramatic fashion, Nicky Maynard was awarded a penalty kick for Cardiff on the last play of the match and earned the draw for the league champs.
Needing a single goal, Watford instead, at the ninety minute mark, let Ross McCormack through for a chip over Bonham's head after he came off the line and that was all she wrote.
The first leg of the semi-finals will be a return to Leicester, where Watford won the second of their regular season matches last Friday, on Thursday, May 9th. Kickoff will be 1:45 St. Louis time. The second leg at Vicarage Road will be Sunday, May 12th.
Go 'Orns!!
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