Never say die

Watford v Southampton

Sunday 16^th September

Got up late, ate and left, buying an Observer to read in first class on the train, where I was joined by another Watford fan and some neutrals going to the match, whose conversation I was mostly glad to keep my head buried away from. Stuck my bike in Kerry’s back garden (she was on the computer that Phil brought round) and Joss and I left soon afterwards and made it in with a patch of sweat on my retro Watford shirt just after Z-Cars again.

The results yesterday (most specifically 3^rd placed Bristol City (the Robins) winning 3-0 at top-of-the-table Coventry to pip them) meant that a home win today would put us on top of the pile at least until midweek and I considered putting money where my mouth was but feared jinxing the Golden Boys. Yeah, this rational atheist still succumbs to superstition where football is concerned. Which footie fan doesn’t occasionally wonder if their presence, absence or decision-making isn’t somehow connected to the fortunes of their team?

The only change from the last match was Nathan Ellington starting for Darius Henderson but that was probably predicted by many who saw the problems he created 2 weeks ago. Watford started well and had the first chances (Jobi McAnuff blasted wide) defending the Rookery end but it was a cross from Southampton in the tenth minute that Lee Williamson deflected towards his own net that was the nearest to a goal. Luckily our Latvian keeper Marty Poom got across to his right to keep it out and then we continued to apply pressure until we scored just after the fortieth minute, Danny Shittu steaming in to head in a Tommy Smith cross (with power reminiscent of his headed goal in last seaon’s Carling Cup game against Newcastle) that might otherwise have been Ellington’s first Watford goal.

Unfortunately we couldn’t hold on to the lead until half time. There had been obvious communication problems between Poom and both Shittu & Jay DeMerit, which tells me it is the keeper’s fault, but the ball that led to the goal was just played between the two centre-backs, with Shittu out of position, for Rasiak to slide it in. Joss and I went to look for Matt and Jake at half-time to talk about going to the QPR match together but within five minutes of sitting down for the restart Watford (Marlon King and Ellington) had had two excellent chances which had both resulted in powerful shots being put within reach of the goalie. I was just wondering why they couldn’t place it low rather than blast it high.

So it was that Southampton took the lead with a great looping shot from Dyer past Poom. The space he had, though, was probably again a result of Shittu making a decision not to close him down immediately. The frustration was tangible but I wasn’t feeling it. We had dominated the match overall and I said to Joss that we could still score. I joined in quickly and loudly with chants and started “Aidy Boothroyd’s Yellow Army” a couple of times, urging the lads on.

Henderson had come on for the tiring Ellington a few minutes before Southampton took the lead, and some nice passes led to Smith passing to a very-far-forward Lloyd Doyley, who crossed for the sub to even things up with ten minutes left to play. Into injury time the Saints’ fans “Let’s all have disco” songs had faded from memory when King, who the team were carrying to some extent, won a free kick that was cleared to Gavin Mahon, who pelted it back in for Henderson to have a bite at before toe-poking it into the net with his left foot.

3-2 at the final whistle a minute or so later and a thrilling game was won by the better team. What was really heartening was the desire they showed to win after going behind and the belief that they could. We walked back very content with the spectacle but most especially the result. If games ended after 80 minutes, last season we would have ended up in 14^th position (I read somewhere) but so far this season we are the team getting the late winners. That’s the mark of success.