Yeovil Town nil - nil Watford 10-12-9 42 pt.

With a pitch at Huish park that most track stewards would call 'sloppy', the two Championship sides battled to a draw.

Manuel Almunia was back between the sticks for the Hornets - one of six changes from Saturday's 'Boro win including the Watford debut of Swedish forward Mathias Ranégie. Both sides came out firing, but the pitch ensured execution did not live up to the enthusiasm.

Both sides wore down in the second half and the lack of serious chances found both sides with a point at the end.

Today's match, a reschedule of the weather-cancelled New Year's Day match, was the last of the games-in-hand for Watford who find themselves a full eight points south of the playoff zone. The Hornet's next chance comes Saturday, February 22 at Bolton. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

Watford 1-0 Birmingham City 9-11-9 38 pts.

The Hornets made the most of their game in hand, plucking three points from Birmingham City in a well-played home match.

Troy Deeny, with an assist from Fernando Forestieri, right-footed in the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute. The story was a lack of collapse by the defense and a clean sheet even as the Blues threw everything at the goal in the six minutes of added time.

With the last couple of matches, I'm getting a little optimistic, but then I notice we've just drawn even on wins vs losses. Watford's next match is at Vicarage Road again this Saturday, February 15 against Middlesbrough. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

Leicester City 2-2 Watford 8-11-9 35 pts

At last, some kind of normalcy. My schedule, Watford's play and Player all seemed to align today for an enjoyable match experience from my home office this morning.

What a hard way to earn a point in the standings.

Watford lead off with a controversial goal gift from the linesman in the ninth minute. As Troy Deeny drove to the goal and let off a shot at Kasper Schmeichel, it deflected off Fernando Forestieri who was clearly offside. But no flag went up and the Hornets took the lead from league leading Leicester at King Power Stadium.

Sean Murray stamped the match with Watford's now-trademark 2-0 away lead in minute 41 with a solid shot sending Schmeichel the wrong way, but Matty James clawed back that goal two minutes later to leave the score 1-2 at the half.

The Foxes showed why they are atop the table, never giving up and salvaging a point deep into added time with a goal from former Watford loanee Danny Drinkwater in the 94th minute.

The draw leaves Watford firmly at mid-table and ready to host Birmingham City next Tuesday, February 11. Kickoff is 1:45 pm St. Louis time.

Watford 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion 8-10-9 34 pts

I was helping out with some serious family matters Sunday morning so only caught the first half.

Too early by far to say if this is a righting of the ship, but at least we took on no more water Sunday. This time, a 2-0 lead after an hour proved to be enough and Watford nabbed their second win since October. Ikechi Anya bested former Hornet Tomasz Kuszczak fourteen minutes in and Fernado Forestieri doubled the lead an hour in.

Watford ran the game for the first twenty minutes of the first half and, though not dominating, held on for the rest of the half. The match also marked the first appearance of Daniel Tozser, Hungarian national midfielder on loan from Genoa.

The Hornet's find themselves at the top of the bottom half of the league table. Their next match is Saturday, February 8 at Leicester City with a 9:00 am (St. Louis time) kickoff.

Nottingham Forest 4-2 Watford 7-10-9 31 pts

Man City maybe. Forest?! Are you shitting me!

Again two up at the hour. Again we cough up four goals. But this is no Champions League side. This is Nottingham freakin' Forest! One of us. A side we are supposed to beat.

Sad.

I tried listening on the road. Player cut out after the first goal and it was 3-2 when I got back to my desk so I'm not entirely sure what the major malfunction was.

Is it defensive skill? Is it conditioning? This has to stop. We're winless in what? 185 matches? Seems like.

The bright spot - Gabriele Angella scored a brace giving him five goals on the season.

The next match is Sunday, February 2. We host Brighton & Hove Albion. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

FA Cup Round 4 Manchester City 4-2 Watford

Oh! Look at us giving a big team the what-for for a good hour!

And then BAM! The cat gets tired of playing with the mouse and devours it with a Sergio Aguero hat trick.

And we THANK City for letting us play at Ethiad?! Sad, sad, sad.

If ever there was a game to tell us we are not ready for the Premier League this was it. Despite goals from Fernando Forestieri & Troy Deeny to lead at the half 2-0, the poise, confidence, and talent (oh! the talent!) of the City side made the final score seem inevitable. Aleksander Kolorov added to Aguero's hat trick to double in thirty minutes what Watford took 90 to muster.

Back to the Championship where we belong (at least for now). Next stop: Nottingham Forrest Thursday, January 30. Kickoff is 1:45 pm St. Louis time

Birmingham City Match Rescheduled for February 11

The Birmingham City match, bumped from this Saturday's calendar by Watford's Fourth Round Cup tie with Manchester City, has been rescheduled for February 11. Kickoff will be 1:45 pm St. Louis Time.

AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Watford 7-10-8 31 pts.

It could have been worse.

Down a man and two penalty kicks - it could have been a lot worse.

Poor officiating marred the match with one iffy penalty and the wrong man being sent off with a red card.

Gabriele Angella nabbed the lead for Watford at the close of the first half and Watford looked on their way to three points when a late penalty call by the linesman gave the Cherries the opportunity to draw even. Referee Carl Boyeson didn't see or call the foul but deferred to the linesman. Adding further to the confusion, Angella was sent off when it was clearly Joel Ekstrand that made the contact.

Lewis Grabban scored the first penalty kick, but was denied a second after Manuel Almunia brought down Marc Pugh minutes later.

Attention turns to FA Cup action next, with Watford visiting the Ethiad as Manchester City hosts the fourth round Saturday, January 25. Kickoff is at 9:00 am St. Louis time.

FA Cup Round 3 Replay: Watford 2-0 Bristol City

On to Round 4!

Looking like they knew how to handle a League One side for a change and welcoming the returns of Ikechi Anya and Almen Abdi, The Hornets turned a round of ‘who wants to lose this’ into a well-earned win.

A Karleigh Osborne own goal (later credited to Davide Faraoni) at the half-hour mark gave Watford the lead, but it was Lewis McGugan that left-footed the clincher in at 64 minutes and set up Round 4 against the winner of tomorrow night’s Manchester City/Blackburn Rovers match.

Meanwhile, it’s back to league play Saturday, January 18 at Bournemouth, 4-1 winners over Burton Albion in cup play today. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

Watford 0-1 Reading 7-9-8 30 pts.

Back to our losing ways. Shutout at home for the sixth match this season, it was all over but the shouting in the first five minutes. Kaspars Gorkss's header proved to be the only goal of the day and Watford mounted no serious response in 90 minutes.

The only other excitement came as Alexander Merkel earned both a yellow and a red card (as well as a three-game suspension) in his Watford debut.

Watford's next match is the FA Cup replay hosting Bristol City Tuesday, January 14. Kickoff is 1:45 pm St. Louis time.

FA Cup 3rd Round: Bristol City 1-1 Watford

An anniversary excursion delayed this post (and nearly my listening to the match itself), but it really doesn't matter as the sides worked themselves into a replay on the 14th.

Watford thought they had avoided a replay at Vicarage Road when Sean Murray right-footed a shot in in the 84th minute, but Jay Emmanuel-Thomas evened the match less than a minute later with a tap-in.

Before the replay however, Watford returns to Vicarage Road for a league match, hosting Reading on Saturday, January 11. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

Yeovil Town Match Called Off

Heavy rains have contributed to a water-logged pitch at Huish Park, prompting officials to call off today's match.

The next Watford match is an FA Cup tie at Bristol City this Saturday, January 4. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.