An Awful Afternoon in Bedfordshire
Yesterday at 01:54 PM
My plans for the international break had been to attend the event to announce Watford FC Women’s partnership with the Sound of Gol Investment Group on Saturday and complete the Taylor Trek on Sunday. Sadly, my plans were scuppered by a positive test for Covid on Saturday morning, so I missed these tremendous events. The partnership for the Women's team sounds like a wonderful opportunity that should allow them to build for future success. As for the Trek, I missed my hug with Rita Taylor, and I had such generous sponsorship that I am determined to walk the route one day next week to avoid taking the money under false pretences.
I was back to full fitness (and testing negative) by the end of the week, so up bright and early for the journey to Watford to catch the coach up the M1. As I boarded the train, it occurred to me that I was leaving for a match in Bedfordshire about half an hour later than I had for the last game of last season at Middlesbrough which had the same kick-off time. On arrival in Watford the rain was torrential, so I was soaked to the skin by the time I arrived at the ground to pick up my match ticket, which was not handed over until I produced my driving licence to prove that I was who I said I was. After the fiasco with the coaches last year, I was glad to see that there were no Harry Potter buses in sight, but there were a good number of blokes on the beers at 9am. My plan had been to arrive early and get on one of the first buses as they were the more civilised last time. As there had been no takers for this game from the usual suspects, I was delighted to see Matt and his daughter in the row in front of me on the coach. They had left early to drive down from Bedfordshire for the pleasure of taking a coach back. I also met Wayne Godfrey, a leading light of WML, for the first time. As I waited for the coach to depart, I was interested to see people (young men) being searched before they were allowed to board.
The coaches left soon after 10:15 and we were soon parked up on the Dunstable Road waiting for the police escort. It is just as well that none of the residents of the houses whose drives the coaches were blocking had anywhere to go. We finally turned into the Oak Road and those making their first visit were rather baffled as to where the ground was until they saw the big Dominos sign over the turnstiles between the houses.
The ground has changed since our last visit with safe standing now on the Oak Road terraces and seating in the Bobbers stand where the greenhouses used to be. I had a front row "seat" in the standing area and was rather perturbed to see some animal (I assume) faeces on the perimeter just in front of my seat. I pointed it out to a few stewards, before one decided that action should be taken. They threw some sand on it to cover it up. Revolting.
The crowd inside the ground amused themselves prior to kick-off by abusing the home mascots. More worrying was the state of the pitch as the ground staff were trying to clear a large quantity of standing water as the rain continued to fall.
Team news was that Cleverley had made three changes from the Middlesbrough game with Bachmann, Kayembe and Bayo replacing Bond, Ince and Jebbison. So, the starting line-up was Bachmann; Porteous, Ogbonna, Pollock; Andrews, Dele-Bashiru, Sissoko, Sema; Chakvetadze, Kayembe; Bayo.
The Hornets nearly took an early lead as Holmes chipped his own keeper, but the ball flew wide of the target. The resultant corner was cleared only as far as Chakvetadze whose shot from just outside the area was deflected wide. The first booking of the game went to Bayo who was cautioned for dissent when he wasn't awarded a free kick. The first chance for the home side came as the ball was deflected to Burke who broke into the box and took a shot that was well saved by Bachmann. The Hornets had another chance to open the scoring when a shot from Kayembe was blocked and the ball fell to Dele-Bashiru whose effort flew well over the bar. It was the home side that took an early lead as a corner dropped to Holmes whose shot from the edge of the area was deflected past Bachmann by Clark. The goalscorer then picked up the first booking for the home side after hacking Kayembe down. The home side had a chance to score a second after a header from Adebayo was headed out by Porteous, the resultant corner from Doughty was played out to Chong whose shot flew well over the bar.
The Hornets had been outmuscled in the first quarter of the game, so it was very pleasing to see Sissoko enacting some robust defending of his own in front of the away end. It certainly enlivened the travelling fans. The Hornets had a chance to grab an equaliser as Chakvetadze broke forward and played in Bayo, but the shot was closed down. The next booking of the game went to Porteous for a robust tackle on Burke. By this point in the game, I had been joined in the 3 seats at the front by 4 loud Scotsmen who were convinced that the tackle by their countryman had been fair (he won the ball). The home side threatened again as Morris broke forward before putting in a low cross that Ogbonna put out for corner. Just before the break, Sissoko did well to beat Doughty and go on a great run before squaring the ball for Chakvetadze whose shot cleared the bar when he should at least have tested the keeper. There was 3 minutes of added time during which an attempted throw by Bachmann for Andrews was intercepted by Chong and Dan had to be alert to make the save. So, the whistle went for half time with the Hornets a goal down and being booed off the pitch. It had been a poor half of football by the Hornets who were struggling to string passes together. We could only hope that Tom would give them a rocket during the interval.
At the break a steward came over and asked me about my lively companions and whether I would like to move to the more civilised seated area (with the other old people). I thanked her for her concern but decided to stay where I was.
The home side made a change at the break bringing Hashioka on in place of Holmes. The second half started disastrously for the Hornets as a corner from Doughty was met by Morris who had a free header to beat Bachmann at the far post. Thankfully my Scottish friends had decided not to rejoin me for the second half as I fear that their reaction to this would have made me rethink my decision to stay in the standing area. At this point I met a regular reader of this blog who had some suggestions for my notes which were apt but not quite my style. Cleverley opted to make a double change with Jebbison and Baah replacing Bayo and Kayembe. Bayo was booed off the pitch. At the same time Johnson replaced Burke for the home side. The Hornets had a decent chance to pull a goal back as Chakvetadze broke forward before playing the ball out to Baah, his cross was blocked but the ball fell to Dele-Bashiru whose shot needed a decent save from Kaminski to keep it out. The home side were forced into another change as an injury to Chong led to him being replaced by Nakamba.
The next chance for the Hornets came as Sema cut the ball back for Chakvetadze whose shot was blocked. Then a good passing move finished with Jebbison flicking the ball to Baah whose shot was blocked at close range. Each side then made a further substitution with Sema making way for Ebosele for the Hornets while Ruddock Mpanzu and Brown replaced Krauß and Morris for the home side. The Hornets put themselves in trouble as a terrible pass from Dele-Bashiru gifted the ball to Doughty who played a lovely ball for Adebayo in the box, he played it back for Brown whose shot was blocked by Sissoko. Watford's afternoon was summed up in the next move as Andrews went on a storming run down the right only to put his cross over the goal and out. At this point there was a tannoy announcement about homophobic chanting in Block C (I assume of the Bobbers Stand next to the away fans in the seats). We were assured that this would not be tolerated, and that they had CCTV of the offenders, but I didn't see anyone being dragged out. The Hornets had another decent chance when Baah got behind the defence and crossed for Jebbison whose shot appeared to be blocked by a hand, but the referee thought otherwise. Ebosele was the next to threaten the home defence with a run down the left, but it finished with a terrible cross that flew well over the bar.
Cleverley made a couple of late changes with Dele-Bashiru and Andrews making way for Ince and Vata. The home side had a decent chance to score a third when Ruddock Mpanzu played a through ball for Adebayo whose shot was blocked by Bachmann. There was 8 minutes of added time, but any hopes that the Hornets could salvage something from this game dissipated in the first minute as Kaminski played a ball over the top for Brown who left Porteous on the floor before beating Ogbonna and finishing past Bachmann to complete the rout. As the game came to a close, the locals were very helpfully letting us know that we had to wait for the coaches. This meant that many fans who would normally have been back in the pub by the final whistle were still in the ground and wasted no time in telling the players exactly what they thought of them at the final whistle. The players came over to applaud the travelling fans and Tom Cleverley held his hands up to the crowd as they screamed dog's abuse at him and the players. I am not one to boo or shout abuse, and I hated seeing Tom in that position, but even I wasn't moved to sympathetic applause after that performance. It was an absolutely dreadful showing by the Hornets. The opposition were very physical and, as has so often been the case, our players just couldn't cope with it. There was a high press and no space to play in, which meant that most attacking moves were soon stopped. There were also a number of occasions when passes fell short due to the water that was still on the pitch, but that was apparent quite early on and the players should have adapted the game plan to deal with it. We were beaten by a team with an effective game plan and it was painful to watch.
It was a relief to get back on the coach to go home. I put my headphones on and buried myself in a book. The journey back was longer than it should have been due to the coaches taking us down St Albans Road. It was a relief when they stopped along there and let some of us off to walk to the Junction. The coach then sailed past us and stopped on the bridge by the station, but the walk in the fresh air was very welcome.
There is nothing positive that can be taken from that game, and I am quite concerned about our prospects at Leeds on Tuesday. But at least I can look forward to some good company and a couple of pre-match beers at that one. It feels like one of those evenings when it may be better to stay in the pub.
