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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