An Unhappy Start to 2025

01/03/2025 03:57 PM

My New Year's Eve tradition over the past few years has been a matinee performance at the theatre (when available) and then retire home with food and drink before it gets crazy outside. I was late booking this year's play and ended up choosing Bette and Joan at the Park Theatre. It portrays Bette Davis and Joan Crawford during the filming of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. The story is about their battles but also them looking back on their lives. It was brilliantly clever and very funny with the added advantage that I could walk home afterwards, so was soon in the warm waiting to greet another year.

The early kick-off got in the way of pre-match drinks. We had a good contingent from both Women of Watford and City Orns coming but were stuck on where to meet. The pubs in Shepherds Bush tend not to welcome away fans to the extent that they check that you have a home match ticket before they let you in so, in the past, we have met further afield, but that was not practical for this game. I knew that Jerry Ladell had recommended a local hostelry in the away pub guide that he put together for the EA Horns a couple of years ago, so I decided to meet Mike there. It was grey and miserable as I walked along the Uxbridge Road but when I found the pub, it was lovely and quiet with no security on the door and the big group sitting on the next table were Watford fans. I had arrived earlier than planned and Mike was a little later than expected. While I supped my pint, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, so he arrived looking rather windswept and most unimpressed having spent Christmas in a very sunny Granada.

The rain had eased a bit when we headed to the ground. On finding our seats we were greeted with complaints from the rest of the party about how soaked they were, so our timing had been good.

Team news was that Cleverley had made four changes from the Cardiff game with Sierralta, Ngakia, Ince and Baah coming in for Andrews, Kayembe, Louza and Vata. So, the starting line-up was Bachmann; Pollock, Sierralta, Porteous; Larouci, Ince, Sissoko, Ngakia; Chakvetadze, Baah; Bayo.

There was a rather nice touch before kick-off as a minute's silence was held for fans of both clubs who passed away last year.

The game started brightly for the Hornets with a decent cross from Baah that was gathered by the QPR keeper, Nardi, as Bayo challenged. But the Hornets fell behind to yet another early goal as Morgan ran behind the defence to latch on to a free kick and played a low cross through the defence who stood and watched as Frey finished past Bachmann. I noticed that Dan watched the replay on the big screen, which was above our heads, so we were spared having to watch it again.

The Hornets looked to hit back as Ngakia broke forward, but his shot was straight at the keeper. Another break into the Watford box was stopped by Larouci who played the ball back to Bachmann who was clattered and needed treatment. At the same time, Porteous was down in the box, so there was a lengthy delay which included the unpleasant Chair winding Porteous up. The next chance for the Hornets came after a great run by Chakvetadze who put a cross into the box, but Bayo was unable to connect. The Hornets then had a decent chance to equalise after a cross from Chakvetadze was cleared to Pollock who returned the ball to the Georgian whose shot needed a decent save from Nardi to keep it out. At the other end a corner came out to Morgan whose shot flew well over the bar. The Hornets threatened again as Baah went on a storming run and hit a shot that was deflected for a corner that came to nothing. Then a heavy touch gifted the ball to Chair who broke forward before being stopped by a great tackle in the box from Porteous. The first booking of the game went to Frey for pulling Baah down on the edge of the box. Ince took the resultant free kick which was caught by Nardi. Rangers scored their second after 37 minutes as a free kick was headed out to Chair who crossed for Dunne to head home. It was another goal conceded due to poor defending, with the QPR players lining up in the box to meet the cross. The Hornets had a great chance to pull one back as Ngakia broke forward before crossing for Bayo whose header found the side netting when he should have hit the target. There was four minutes of added time during which the closest the Hornets came to a goal was a Larouci cross that was headed for a corner that was also met by a Rangers head. So, we reached the break two goals down after an even half of football that had featured a very poor defensive display from the Hornets.

At half time Mark Prince was interviewed on the pitch after winning the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The award was given for his work with the Kiyan Prince Foundation, named after his son, a player in the QPR Academy, who was stabbed to death aged 15 while trying to stop a fight outside his school. The foundation works to keep young people away from knife and other violent crime through boxing and life coaching. Mark has done great work over the years since Kiyan was killed and he talked about what great support QPR have given to his foundation. They are to be admired for that.

The first incident of the second half was a booking for Fox for pulling Bayo over. The home side had a great chance of a third after a cross from Smyth was met with a weak punch from Bachmann, the ball dropped to Smyth whose shot was blocked, and the ball fell to Varane whose shot cleared the bar. But it was the Hornets who scored the next goal as the ball bounced off Pollock and fell for Chakvetadze who broke forward and played the ball out to Baah whose shot took a deflection and found the net. But the celebrations in the away end were short lived as two minutes later Smyth broke into the box and crossed for Field to head home. It was another simple goal with the Watford defence static.

The Hornets tried to hit back as Baah put in a great cross, but there was no Watford player on hand to make the connection. The home side made a double substitution at this point bringing Clarke-Salter and Kolli on in place of Morgan and Frey. The Hornets had a great chance to pull one back after Baah robbed Chair and broke forward, but his cross had too much power and bounced off Bayo, who was unable to control it. Cleverley made a triple change at this point replacing Sissoko, Ince and Larouci with Kayembe, Vata and Ebosele. Kayembe's first involvement was to earn a yellow card for kicking the ball away. The next chance for the Hornets came when a cross from Ngakia fell to Pollock whose shot was blocked. The Hornets threatened again with a shot from distance by Chakvetadze that was deflected behind. Giorgi took the corner that was met by a header from Porteous that flew wide of the near post. The home side made another double change as Saito and Madsen replaced Chair and Morgan. The home side had a chance for a fourth after a great run by Smyth, but his cross was just missed by Saito. Rangers threatened again when Smyth picked up the ball and beat Porteous, but his shot was saved by Bachmann.

The Hornets thought that they had pulled one back when Pollock met a corner and headed home, but the referee blew up for a foul in the box, which he seemed to do every time that we had a set piece late in the game. Smyth was booked for a nasty foul on Ebosele, and Ebosele was then booked for a foul on Smyth. Rangers made a final substitution bringing Colback on in place of Field. There was four minutes of added time and a terrific chance to pull one back when Kayembe played a great crossfield ball for Baah who went on another storming run before hitting a powerful shot that rebounded off the corner of the bar and post. The Hornets had another decent chance as Chakvetadze got around the back of the defence where his shot was blocked by Nardi. There was one last chance to pull a goal back from a Chakvetadze free kick, but Porteous headed over the bar, so we fell to another disappointing defeat.

It was another poor performance. We missed Louza again, his control of the midfield brings a calm to proceedings that wasn't in evidence as we constantly gave the ball away. On the positive side, Baah was excellent, constantly running at the QPR defence, putting in dangerous crosses and taking the chance to shoot. Sadly, having looked solid earlier in the season, the defence was completely porous, conceding goals that they really should have stopped. I think a Robbo masterclass is needed.

We decided to go for a drink before heading home which turned out to be a very good idea. It is amazing how a pint and a natter can make you feel so much better after a poor game like that. By the time we left West London, we felt a lot better.

Next up is the Graham Taylor matchday which will be attended by a number of players from his golden era in the 70s and 80s. They were my football heroes and instilled the love of the game that I have to this day. I hope that the current players rise to the occasion and give us a performance that GT would be proud of. Bring your scarf.