Cleverley Maintains Unbeaten Home Run

09/16/2024 12:06 PM

My cousin, Doreen, has been visiting from New Zealand. Being highly considerate, she arrived just before the international break, so we had a lovely family party last weekend. This weekend, she decided to join us for the Coventry game. It wasn't her first visit to Vicarage Road, so she knew that entertainment wasn't guaranteed.

We set off in good time and arrived at the West Herts to be praised by the time-keeping steward, which is always a good start to the afternoon. Don was in situ, but the rest of our crowd were very late on parade, all arriving with stories of terrible traffic.

When we arrived at the Vic, there was no music being played on the PA due to a technical issue. My neighbour in the Rookery very kindly played Z-cars on his phone so that we got the full experience.

Team news was that Cleverley had made just one change to the team that started against Sheffield United with Porteous coming in for Morris. So, the starting XI was Bachmann; Pollock, Sierralta, Porteous; Larouci, Dele-Bashiru, Sissoko, Andrews; Chakvetadze, Kayembe; Bayo.

For the third league game in a row, we had a disastrous start as a Coventry corner was headed in off the post by Simms with the defence static. So frustrating. The Hornets could have been two down after 6 minutes when a mistake by Porteous allowed Eccles to escape, thankfully his shot was straight at Bachmann. The Hornets had a great chance for an equaliser when Chakvetadze met a low cross from Andrews, but his shot flew just wide when he should have hit the target. The Hornets threatened again as Larouci broke into the box, his shot was blocked, the ball eventually came to Andrews whose shot was blocked for a corner. Kayembe's delivery was punched and fell to Larouci who skyed his shot. The visitors should have had a second when Mason-Clark broke forward, his initial shot was blocked by Sierralta, but he remained lurking in the box and received a cross from Van Ewijk at the far post, thankfully his shot was poor, and Bachmann made a comfortable save. The Coventry man had another chance to increase the lead when he got on the end of a cross to the far post, but he put it just over the bar when it looked easier to score. The Hornets then had a decent chance of their own as Sissoko played the ball out to Andrews, who returned the ball to the captain whose shot was just over the bar. The visitors had another chance to increase their lead as Simms latched on to a ball over the top and was bearing down on goal, Bachmann blocked the shot and the ball fell to Eccles, who had an open goal to aim at but put his effort over the bar.

Coventry should have increased their lead with a header from Rudoni but Sierralta was on hand to head it off the line. The Hornets were struggling a bit at this stage and Bachmann went down with an injury and sent his teammates off to see Tom Cleverley for a pep talk. It definitely appeared to be a tactical injury. The Hornets restarted with a good move that finished with Chakvetadze crossing for Bayo whose downward header was easily gathered by the keeper. At the other end, some excellent defending from Sierralta prevented Simms from causing more trouble for the Hornets. The first booking of the game went to Pollock for a foul on van Ewijk. The Hornets threatened again with a cross from Larouci that was headed just wide of the near post by Bayo. The next name in the referee's book was Torp who was cautioned after he pulled Chakvetadze back. The resultant free kick was headed on into the box before being cleared by the visitors. There was one more booking before the break as Latibeaudiere was cautioned for wasting time at a throw. So, the Hornets went in at the interval a goal down, it could easily have been two or three.

The Hornets started the second half brightly as Kayembe crossed for Bayo whose header on did not reach a Watford player, the ball came out to Kayembe who volleyed over the bar. There was a better chance soon after from a Chakvetadze free kick that was met by Pollock whose header was pushed wide by Coventry keeper, Dovin. Chakvetadze had a bit of a ropey first half but started the second brilliantly and was in action again breaking forward and putting in a cross that landed on the roof of the net. Larouci was the next to try his luck with a shot that was touched over the bar by the keeper. At the other end, Simms went on a great run and hit a shot that was deflected over by Pollock. Sissoko then went on a run of his own and got inside the box before shooting, again Dovin had to tip the ball over the bar. The next chance for the Hornets was a bicycle kick from Kayembe that was blocked. Another decent move from the Hornets finished with Bayo finding Andrews whose shot flew over the bar. There was a triple substitution for the Hornets at this point with Larouci, Andrews and Bayo making way for Sema, Ebosele and Jebbison. So, we had a chance to see a couple of the new boys. Coventry also made a change bringing Wright on for Latibeaudiere who had picked up an injury.

The Hornets drew level on 67 minutes after another lovely move. Sema released Chakvetadze who advanced down the left and crossed for Dele-Bashiru to turn the ball in. Cue joyous celebrations in the home end. The Hornets could have scored a second a couple of minutes later when Ebosele got around the back of the defence and pulled the ball back for Sissoko whose first time shot flew just wide of the near post. Then Sema crossed for Jebbison who headed wide of the target. The visitors had a decent chance to regain the lead as Wright met a cross from Mason-Clark with a header that came back off the post. There was then a long break in the game after Chakvetadze went down. It is always horrible to see the stretcher come on and Giorgi left the pitch to supportive applause. Thankfully the news post-match was that it was a back spasm, so he should be fine. Giorgi was replaced by Vata. The visitors threatened again through Mason-Clark, Sierralta missed a tackle allowing him to advance but Porteous threw his head in the way and was awarded the foul with, thankfully, no harm done. The visitors made a late substitution bringing Thomas-Asante on in place of Mason-Clark. The Hornets had a chance to grab a second as Pollock played a gorgeous ball into the area, sadly Jebbison was unable to finish. Cleverley made a final change replacing Sierralta with Morris. There were 13 minutes of added time due to the lengthy injuries. The Hornets had a chance to grab a winner when a cross from Vata was met by the head of Pollock, but his effort was caught by Dovin. At the other end Thomas-Asante had a shot that was deflected wide. The resultant corner came out to Torp on the edge of the box, but his shot was wild.  The visitors had one last chance to grab a winner after Sissoko gave the ball away allowing Rudoni to get into the box, thankfully his shot was pushed wide by Bachmann. The last action of the game was a booking for Porteous for a tactical foul on Wright. So, with the clock reading 103 minutes, the final whistle went on an entertaining draw.

The lack of music after the final whistle was quite off-putting. It was left to the fans to fill the void and Cleverley's name was chanted with gusto.

It had been a much better second half for the Hornets, but a draw was a fair result. It had been a thoroughly entertaining game with both teams creating plenty of chances. I was impressed with both of the new guys. Festy is huge, has surprising pace and is not afraid to run at the opposition. Jebbison did not get on the scoresheet but had a number of chances and certainly seemed to be in the right position most of the time. I am looking forward to seeing more of both of them.

So, Tom Cleverley maintains his unbeaten home record and the Vicarage Road faithful can certainly not complain about the entertainment on show this season. We have a tricky trip to Norwich next week but, at the moment, I am just looking forward to a good game of football.