Battered 'em (Pt. 2)

History will show that not all the records went the champions-elect's way this season and that will be because of how Watford outplayed and destroyed them on Saturday evening. The younger Watford Boy and I got to celebrate three initially unexpected goals - two by Sarr and one from Deeney - as the Red's unbeaten run came to an end.

Battered 'em

In Quique Flores' first game back, we had a good go at Arsenal for 25 mins or so then went 2-0 down in 15 more mins and that was the score at the break.

We've had a shit start to the season, losing at home to Brighton and West Ham, and I am already fearful that my son's first season as a season-ticket-holder is going to see us relegated.

After half-time, though, we absolutely battered the Gooners and they were -"scared" according to their captain - and lucky to leave with a point considering we had more shots against them than they've ever faced in the Opta-era. One point was brilliant considering half-time, but disappointing given our overall dominance.

Memories

I was at Wembley in 1984 but don't remember much of the actual football. My impressions are of the ground and the fans. Ahead of last Saturday's FA Cup final, I watched pre-1984-final build up on YouTube and had some time to think about my experience of that final with my dad and brother and how I wanted my son to experience this, 2019, one.

We cycled to the stadium and parked our bikes on racks in the NE corner. It was 12 miles, mostly along the canal, then over industrial areas and on to Brent River Park and the final industrial/commercial road to the iconic arch. I'd bought my wonderful son a new bike ahead of a ride from Carlisle to Newcastle next week and this was a great opportunity to cover some ground on it. This was therefore a big part of our experience of the day and he did well and we enjoyed the ride.

We arrived early enough to wander and look for things to do. I'd contacted my sister and nephew but in the end was unable to get together with them. Instead, after a photo op with the marching band, we hung out at the fan park for a while and then got talking to some Hornet fans outside the supermarket by the stadium.

Stories and facts were swapped but I remained a little concerned that my original plan of finding a family with kids to chat to had not materialised. We stayed more than an hour before heading in. The little man had the match programme, my phone and occasional conversation to entertain him. I had beer and chat with a couple of older guys, one of whom was Ray Lewington's cousin.

We entered and walked around a little before taking our seats. I bumped into my uncle, Redmond, before too long and the boy and I spent a nice ten minutes or so chatting with him, my aunt and their son. My boy remained pretty quiet throughout.

Then we went up for the match and started to "soak up the atmosphere", a phrase I'd overused when lowering expectations ("I'd be happy if we scored a goal") in the weeks before the match. I've mentioned the 1881 before, but their impact on the support base was phenomenal in this match, especially towards the end of the thumping.

We were playing the best team in England by far (from us and everyone else except Liverpool) and apart from an early chance that fell to Pererya and was well saved, we weren't really in this game. Some have since suggested that fact is support for an argument that the super-rich clubs need to separate and work exclusively in international competition and leave the rest of us to compete on a national level. I probably need a little more distance from this cringe-inducing experience to assess my ideas.

But cringe I did not. That was not part of my role for my son. Four days later, I was still a little hoarse: I sang and I led the chants and I tickled, bumped and cajoled my boy into enjoying this painful experience. I had a lovely time with him and hope that he will hold onto memories of the ground and the amazing dedication of the fans, who were singing through the fifth and sixth goals.

In my seat I googled the highest ever winning margin in an FA Cup Final. 6-0 in 1903. We did not do worse.

We cycled back the 12 miles with a chocolate stop in 90 minutes or so - quicker than getting there. I don't remember too much about the one-sided match just four days later. But I  have great memories of the fans in the ground and the day with my son.

Wem-ber-ley

It's not the same, going to an FA Cup Semi alone; the boy's in China and neither of the friends I asked wanted to join me.

Big games like this are always nervy. However thrilling the neutral sees it as, those who really care can't enjoy it in the same way.

Until it's over.

Watford had beaten Woking and QPR on the way to this semi-final. Wolves had disposed of Liverpool and Man U. They were rightly favourites and were 2-0 up after 61 minutes.

So Deulofeu's dramatic cameo as a second-half sub will go down in Hornet history. His first goal - in front of us - was sublime. And after our legend of a captain - Troy Deeney - was fouled and converted the penalty, Deulofeu scored again in extra time. An amazing comeback - the best in post-war history, apparently.

We have made our second ever FA Cup Final. I'll be there again. And I'll be able to take the younger Watford Boy, who'll be delighted. I'll enjoy it more, too.

Not much luck

I took my pride and joy to three more home games (Stoke 0-1, Huddersfield 1-4, Spurs 0-4) last season and missed the victories against Arsenal and Man U. So this season I thought I'd better mix it up. After 4 opening wins on the trot, I thought we might get something against MU again. No such luck, and it's been a couple of years since the 7-y-o has seen us win. Hope I get my next choice of match right.

10 men hold on

1881 has flags out every home game and the little man enjoys waving them. Unfortunately that one was one of the highlights of this game for him, as the 'Orns, down to 10 men after a Britos foul that - from 100m away - drew a collective intake of breath from the Rookery, held on to get a point in a goalless game with the yet-to-score Seagulls.

Young Watford Boy's first post

We went to a football match (Watford V Leicester). In 30 seconds Watford scored! (1-0). Twelve minutes later Watford scored again! (2-0). Three minutes later there was a penalty for  Leicester and they scored (2-1). In  the end, Watford beat the champions!

A Day Long Awaited

I took my son to the Vic for the first time. I don't want to overstate it. It's a moment I have been anticipating at least since I asked my wife to have my baby, always hoping for a boy. However, "dream come true" is perhaps a bit too much like hyperbole. I felt proud and excited to take my little Watford Boy to the ground I'd been to probably a couple of hundred times with my dad (though not one stand remains from the first matches I went to) and then taken my nephew to sixty or seventy times.

This was my first visit - and I was in the Rookery again - since The 1881 were formed, a group which I heard about from Luke's friend David. They had placed flags around the stand, which were waved ahead of kick-off by those closest (I have to admit I didn't realise at the time that they did not belong to particular people and we didn't wave one. Next time we will.) It looked great but the chanting/singing seemed little better than I remember. The swearing was pretty much the same, though. I'm not complaining - just wondering how long till my 5-year-old picks some of it up.

Despite the exhortations of my Watford Boy (which made me prouder), Bournemouth went ahead and stayed there till after half time when our talisman and captain scored. I threw the little man into the air several times to ensure he remembered the moment. After Bournemouth had gone ahead again, I was fearing a second defeat in two matches for the little man, who'd seen the Crystal Palace semi last year, and was admittedly more rapt then (Wembley Stadium does have something on Vicarage Road, after all).  
 
Luckily, substitute Isaac Success rose high to head in a second equaliser. My little man went up and down again and loved it. It was end to end stuff and there were four goals. A good first home match. Since our opponents hit the woodwork three times, a draw was ultimately


also a good result. Hopefully we can do better in the next match he sees, against Hull.

New Watford Boy

I have brought new support - in the shape of my son - to the Watford family.  Today we went to Wembley for the Semi-Final of the cup. There was no way I could have got him tickets for the quarter final - up the road from us - but we were within roaring distance of the Emirates Stadium at the Sobell Centre and then the Finsbury Park bowl when The 'Orns got a surprise 2-1 victory on the holders' turf six weeks ago.  We watched some of the second half at the bowling centre and celebrated, with Gooners everywhere. I promised him then we would go to Wembley and he has been singing the song ever since.

When I saw how the tickets would be released, I felt I had to play down the possibility that we could go in case my lack of a recent buying history (last match I went to was against today's opponents in the same stadium three years ago). I got online at the right time and sweated through minutes of waiting to get three tickets. Later that evening I saw tickets were still available and today anyone could see hundreds of empty seats in our half of the stadium.

My son loved it. When we went out to our seats an hour before kick off and with mere hundreds in their seats, he opined, "Best place in the world". At four and two-thirds, he wasn't expected to stay interested but he managed it.

It was a much better game today than three years ago but our defending was a little poor and though we countered well at times, we never really troubled the Palace keeper. They scored early and then again straight after Troy Deeney had equalised in the second half. Three headers.

My little Watford Boy sang "Watford till I die" and his cute, solitary voice turned a few heads. I let him down a bit on the singing, a headache developing once I started shouting off my big mouth and making it painful to continue to do so. I hope to have plenty of opportunities to make up for it in the future and also hope he will have the chance to come back to Wembley soon. It's my fourth time (Everton FA Cup final, 1984; Bolton Play-Off Final, 1999 and the two Palace games) and I've also been to three other FA Cup Semis (1984, 2003, 2007 at Villa Park) and a 2006 Play-Off Final in Cardiff. 8 big games in 37 years or so of supporting the Yellows, but with 6 since 1999 so he should have another shot by the time he's 10...

Is four too young to be a Watford Boy?

This fair-weather-fan has always intended to take his son to Vicarage Road but I thought that the age of six or seven might be best. With Watford's promotion yesterday, I am contemplating buying season tickets again for the first time since 2008 (when we went away a couple of months after I spent the money). He will be four in July.

I know my boy will spend most of the time doing anything but watching the game, but it'll introduce him to the culture and - of course - I'll get to see some good football. Am I being selfish? Should I wait?

Anyway, well done Watford. I haven't seen you play for two years...

Catch-up

We lost loads at home, lost Zola, gained Sannino. Started winning at home again but remain way off the play-offs with nine games left. Leicester and Burnley are sure to go up. We'll be hoping for 2015.

No, I haven't been.

11 up

We've had a better start to the season than last year and sit in fifth behind Burnley, QPR, Leicester and Forest, only the latter of whom we've played (1-1 at the Vic). We lost at Blackpool and Blackburn and put six past Bournemouth and five past Barnsley, contributing to us being top scorers in the league. Meanwhile, Palace, who tamed us in a boring play-off final in May, are second bottom and sure to come back down. Automatic promotion is a long way away and not going to be any easier this year than last.
It's still early, obviously, and not until Nov 9th will many of the top sides have played any one (or two) of the others, by which time - admittedly - there may be a different look to the top six.

Top of the league

I know it doesn't count after just two games but our 6-1 demolition of newly-promoted Bournemouth at the Vic put us top of the Championship on goal difference. Troy Deeney scored the Horns' first hat trick since 2003. I will make sure I see some games this year.

22 seconds

Watford went into the home leg of the play-off semis 1-0 down to Leicester and scored a great first goal through Vydra to balance things up before Nugent scored his second of the tie. The Czech championship-player-of-the-year then poached a second to make things all square. Four minutes of added time were extended due to an injury and it was with 95 minutes on the clock that their French winger won a tie-winning penalty with a dive. I was in the New Rose on Essex Road, with a Leicester fan I'd met there, and started complaining that this was no way to behave.

Lockaert then got up and took the penalty. It was weak and Almunia saved it with his legs and got in the way of a dinked follow-up from the same cheat. The ball was hooked away and next thing you know, the Horns were breaking down the right. The ball was passed to Forestieri to deliver a cross that was cushion-headed back by Johnathon Hogg - who had run faster than anyone else on the pitch to get from our penalty box to their goal line - for Troy Deeney to blast in from close range just 22 seconds after the penalty kick and Watford were in the final at Wembley on the 27th. My description does the drama no justice.
Palace beat Brighton away after a goalless first leg and it is them we will meet. I am confident of getting tickets but have my fingers crossed.

Drama

Drama. I saw before I left for the pub that our first-choice keeper had been injured during the warm-up. When I got to the pub, the stand-in was prostrate, head being supported by a medic. Sixteen minutes were added to the first half and nineteen year old academy graduate, Jack Bonham, came on to play in our biggest game for years.
A defensive mix-up gave Leeds the lead. The Horns needed to better Hull's result so defeat was not in the script. Almen Abdi took a pass after a great run by Ikechi Anya and slotted a great shot into the top corner. 1-1. Game on.
In Hull, the champions Cardiff took the lead. As it stood, Watford were automatically promoted. There was a long time left, though. Before Watford's second half had begun, Hull scored and minutes later took the lead. Nothing Watford could do would be enough.
Watford were nervy. There were no great chances and then Troy Deeney dove in and got himself a second yellow and marching orders. Head-in-hands time.
Because of the stoppage time, Hull's game was in its 90th minute when we still had more than quarter of an hour to play. The screen flipped to Hull's game: they had a penalty. Saved! But still, they were 2-1 up. Back to Watford: a chance, another chance. Agh. The screen split to show Hull again. Cardiff had a penalty now. They scored: 2-2. The game finished minutes later. Watford had plenty of time to score and go up in second place but with 10 men and not looking like they could. The fans got behind them, lifted the atmosphere for a push for that goal. There was pressure, there were half-chances. Nothing. We edged closer and closer to the 90th minute. Leeds broke, long ball, player took a weak chip. And our young keeper, what was he doing? It was not clear what he intended but the ball hit his palms and kept going...and into the net. 2-1 down with a few minutes left and no way back.
It was saddening and the poor young keeper will never forget his nightmare. On the way home, though, I was able to appreciate the excitement and drama of the previous two hours and got home to tell my too-young-to-understand-anything-but-the-breathlessness son the story.

We're in the playoffs against Leicester, while Brighton play Palace. No way I'll be able to get a ticket for either leg so just have to hope we make it to the final and there are enough to go around.

It all comes down to this...

I can't remember such an exciting final day and I won't be there. Watford are third, a point behind second-placed Hull with one game each to play. Hull have failed in the last two games to get the points they need to ensure automatic promotion, giving the Horns the opportunity to close a gap that opened up again after we went to their stadium and won. This Saturday, Watford host mid-table nothing-to-play-for Leeds, while Hull are visited by already-champions Cardiff. They have the harder game on paper and have already choked twice but who knows? Watford's game is live on Sky so although I couldn't get one of the tickets (it's sold out) I will be watching as it all plays out. Come on you Horns!

Goal-tastic

 Watford are in third (though Leicester have two games in hand and are only three points behind) after thumping Birmingham 4-0 at St Andrews. The Horns have the best away record in the division and - as the BBC reports below - have scored the most goals.

One of our many loans from Udinese, the Czech international Matej Vydra, is our top scorer with 19 so far this season while Troy Deeney is having a great season and has netted 12 times. I have not been. My little boy is 18 months old and I will have to think carefully about whether I would buy a season ticket if we went up. It's great to have such a dilemma: with 10 points between us and seventh place, a play-off place looks likely with 14 games left.

On the road

The Horns aren't doing too bad in Yorkshire. A 6-1 win at Elland Road on 10th of this month was followed up with a 4-1 win at Hillsborough tonight. We've gone undefeated in the month and moved right up to 8th. Not going too bad: the team seems to have gelled.

Crashing out

The Pozzo's football team was involved in big cup action today at home. That was Udinese in the Champions League. Their English team was involved at a slightly lower level, fielding a second string at home to Bradford in the Capital One Cup. I glimpsed at the text service on the BBC a couple of times and left it when we went 1-0 up in the 70th minute. When I looked again, we'd let in two and lost to League Two opposition.
The eternal excuse is that we are concentrating on the league. With six points from the first three games, we've had a good start (beat Palace away, lost at home to Ipswich and beat Birmingham). We're in fifth, three teams are unbeaten and Blackpool have won three out of three. At the other end, Palace and Peterborough are yet to get off the mark. Our real aim is for new manager Gianfranco Zola to take us higher than the eighth that the sacked ex-manager Sean Dyche took us to last season. Playoffs would be nice.

New owners at the Vic

The deal has not been done but it looks likely that the Pozzos, who own Granada in la Liga and Udinese in Seria A, will buy the Horns from Laurence Bassini, who is hardly a hit amongst fans. The Pozzo family have money and football pedigree. I foresee taking my son to Premiership games before too long.