League Cup: Watford 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

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Right, second attempt to get this Watford match report posted after the recent blue screen issues.....

So, this one's over a week old and we've now beaten West Ham too so how many people will stick with this is anybody's guess, but for completeness I'll write it up anyway!

Last Wednesday saw us take a trip to Vicarage Road with a spot in the League Cup semi-finals at stake. Now, as well travelled as I am, Vicarage Road is not a ground I've ever been to before. Perhaps the reality is that I'm not that well travelled after all! Last time Watford were in the top flight I (luckily, some would say) missed the no score bore there.

This was actually about the easiest trip possible for my sister. Twenty minute drive to South Kenton, twenty minutes on the train to Watford High Street, fifteen minute walk to the ground. I still had to make it to London first, but it was all a far cry from the woeful public transport, or endless delays on the A406, that we've become used to when heading for The Lane.

From South Kenton station it was possible to see the Wembley arch lit up. There was some other event on that night and it was a nice coincidence even if we did have three games still standing between us and a second successive appearance there!

Wem-ber-lee! Wem-ber-lee!


We got to the ground a bit early. As it turned out way too early. After getting through the turnstiles we were greeted with a large sign that read - "No alcohol served today".

No beer shocker


What?!

Some kind of cruel joke, surely?

It wasn't. There really was no alcohol being served. So much for dodging the local Watford boozers in the hope of a couple of pints pre-match. It didn't go down too well with a lot of the Spurs fans entering the ground. Most were totally bemused. A cup sponsored by a beer, yet no beer in sight!

So after standing around chatting we finally made our way to the stand and in the corner to the left of us was the television commentary team. Ray Clemence and Luther Blisset accompanying the trophy itself. No blue and white ribbons anywhere to be seen though. Tsk tsk.

Vicarage Road begins to fill up


As the teams were announced there were a few raised eyebrows amongst the travelling faithful. Primarily at the fact that Redknapp seemed to have chosen a fairly strong side. Didn't surprise me. I'd have been disappointed with anything less. With results from the previous night having consigned the Gooners to an exit against Burnley, and a late win for Derby, we had to go all out to make the semi-finals.

Getting ready for kick-off


When we got started it looked clear that Watford were bang up for it. We..... well, we weren't.

Two early Watford moves down the right required a block from Dawson first time, and we conceded a corner the second. Then Watford broke the offside trap down the left. Soon after, another move down the left led to a foul by Corluka on the edge of the box, but much to the bemusement of most the ref awarded a corner. Then another Watford chance from the left, this time requiring Gomes to save.

Dear me. We looked off the pace and not at all committed.

Finally we crafted our first move, and somewhat unsurprisingly it came on the break from a Watford corner! Eventually Lennon touched the ball to Campbell who was fouled on the edge of the box, and the resulting free kick led to a decent cross from open play, only for the ball to be headed clear.

Then it was back to Watford attacking! Dawson had another couple of very good headed clearances. It was satisfying to see that he wasn't getting done by the ball over the top, which seems to have been a weakness in recent times.

Still, that didn't deter Watford, and now we almost gifted them a goal with Corluka - of all people! - playing one of the sloppiest balls I've seen to concede possession. Watford worked the ball to the edge of the box and for a minute I thought the chance was gone.

How wrong I was.

A nice, if large turn, a good hit and the ball squeezed into the bottom corner past Gomes.

Watford taking the lead had not been in the script, but given the balance of play there was no denying they were the more worthy leaders.

The finish itself was very, very good. Initially it looked like the turn was too large, having pushed the ball away too far, but it wasn't and the shot was well enough positioned and with enough power to evade the keeper's dive.

It all started with that sloppy ball from Corluka.....

It seemed that this was finally going to wake us from our slumber. Now we started to try getting the ball to Lennon who, as in the game against Everton, had not seen enough of the ball.

Now he made a good run to receive the ball in space, dodged to come inside, and hit a shot with the outside of his boot that the keeper did really well to tip over. A shot on target! At last!

It seemed to get us going a bit and we crafted a chance from the left wing this time. The ball was worked to Pav inside the box, but his shot was deflected over.

Were we finally going to start creating some chances? Yep, but we also still allowed Watford way too much time and space in the middle of the pitch. With the line dropping too deep, they exploited the acres of room we'd given them and Gomes was forced into making another save.

It was better though. We were beginning to assert some authority on the game. It had only taken half an hour!

Now they got a bit sloppy in the middle and Jenas won possession, ran strongly from midfield - much as we know he can, but doesn't nearly often enough - and got a shot away that was saved.

Along with the creation of more chances and our asserting a bit more authority came a subtle change in formation. Having been so poor on the flanks throughout the game, O'Hara moved into what I can only describe as an inside left position. Potentially this could have exposed a large gap on the left with no genuine winger playing there, but as it was it made us a bit more compact in midfield. Better teams with decent right wingers, though, would probably have capitalised.

The tempo of the game was definitely chaning though, and it was in our favour. Now Watford made a terrible mistake in their own box, gifting Pav the ball on the left edge. With plenty of time he hit his shot..... and missed.

From our vantage position at the other end of the ground it looked a shocking miss. As though he'd absolutely scuffed it and sent it for a throw-in. The replays were much kinder. He'd hit the shot well and it had actaully banged off the crossbar. Still, a porr miss.

Not to worry though. With seconds of the half remaining we won a penalty. My first thought was that there was definitely contact, but the ref took an age to give it. It looked like he was going to allow play to continue and the penalty shouts in the crowd had seemed to subside by the time he did blow. It was soft. There was no real need to make the tackle, but this time Pav wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and, cool as you like, slotted it in low and to the right.

The whistle blew and we were level! Having failed so miserably for half an hour, having conceded, to be going in level was probably not entirely deserved. That was the general mood of the travelling support as well as we got dripped on from the condensation forming on the roof!

Still, with things back on level terms, it should have given us the momentum to go on and win. What we wanted was a start to the second half that mirrored the finish to the first.

We didn't get it.

For the first ten minutes we were again second best.

Despite a couple of poor decisions by the officials - one from the ref not to give a foul on Lennon as he ran onto ball from Jenas only to be brought down, one a terrible offside decision - we just weren't getting on top of the game. It was so frustrating.

Pretty soon Pav was replaced by Bent as we looked for some way to crack the Watford defence.

Having given one penalty the ref seemed to bottle giving another. From a corner Dawson slid in and looked odds on to hit the target but was hauled back to the ground as he slid. Looked a definite penalty to me, but nothing doing.

However, the momentum was once again shifting in our favour. Now Zokora did his usual thing, showing great acceleration to go outside the Watford defender on the left to win the ball, only to then demonstrate shoddy delivery in playing it straight to their keeper.

Jenas then got in on the act of side footing the ball to the keeper instead of smashing it, having been released following a good move on the right.

The chances were flowing now though, and a break down the left by Pav saw him pass the ball to O'Hara only for him to shoot far too weakly. Another break down the same side then led to a ball being driven hard and low across the Watford six yard box, only for it to evade everbody.

The goal was coming though. You could just about feel it. From a corner we got as close as we had been throughout the whole game with Dawson's header being cleared off the line.

Then, the deadlock was broken and we made our possession and chances count. Finally!

Bent won the race to a ball down the right, powered into the box on the diagonal and hit his shot hard and low, past the keeper and into the bottom of the net! Yes! At last!

It looked a really good finish, even if the keeper should probably have been disappointed at being beaten as he was. The replays later showed that Bent actually fell on his arse as he hit it and it was probably (at least marginally) a bit of a lucky shot to hit the target as it did!

No complaints though. With the time remaining, and the number of chances we'd created, it looked like we'd go on to win, and maybe even add to the scoreline.

Lennon worked a couple of decent chances late on. The first as he ran onto a ball from Jenas only for his cross to evade both strikers. The second leading to an attempted clearance from a Watford defender that almost ended in an own goal.

Watford, of course, had to come forward now and a passage of play down their left led to a shot that Gomes easily saved. The balance of chances were definitely in our favour though, and a lovely piece of play saw us switch the ball from one flank to the other and press Watford back.

Now we got into a decent groove of possession football. Assured and committed, it looked like we weren't going to give Watford any more chances.

Famous last words!

The broke down the left and it required a strong, pacy, committed piece of defending from Dawson to get to the ball first. It broke infield and O'Hara covered superbly for Dawson, who was now out of position, to clear the danger. That's the sort of thing you want to see. If a centre half gets pulled out to the wing, get somebody covering so you're not caught a man short.

The pretty much marked the last real chance of the game, and as the whistle blew for full time, there would be few who could have argued with the fact that over the ninety minutes, we deserved to win.

The post-match celebrations begin


It had been a shoddy first half hour, and a poor start to the second half given the authority we'd asserted in the last fifteen minutes of the first. In the end though, the possession we had and the chances we created easily merited progress to the semi-finals.

Particularly pleasing was seeing Lennon being given the ball in exactly the manner where he can cause most havoc - played four or five yards in front of him, giving him enough of a run-up to build acceleration and absolutely terrorise the full back. Jenas played that ball to Lennon superbly throughout the match, and while better sides will be wise to it, it clearly allowed Lennon to exploit his most dangerous attacking asset.

We shouldn't get carried away. Despite the number of good chances we created this was not a walkover. Yes, we deserved to win, but the lax play for long periods shows there is still plenty of work to do.

The travelling support, though, was pleased. At various points in the second half where it looked like we'd go through the chants of "Super Tottenham" rang around Vicarage Road and bounced off the houses in the adjoining streets. We made a decent racket! As always.

Last player to leave the pitch, as seems to be customary now, was Gomes. A night that he could be happy with in terms of his work, rewarded with long chants of "We love you Gomes". There was nothing he could have done about the goal, but he pretty much met every challenge that came his way. As the Watford fans had a go in the second half, I commented that a lot of people are going to have to shut up and admit how wrong they were about him. I still reckon he has what it takes to go on and be a great keeper. With the confidence that will come from eradicating the shocking errors, he can definitely go on and do that.

Getting away from Vicarage Road was as easy as getting there. News filtered through of ManUre giving Blackburn a pummelling as thoughts turnes to the third semi-final in a row. A stern proposition with ManUre still in the competition, but some more great nights in prospect. We decided to celebrate as we got home. With a kebab! I stuffed my gob and I loved it!

A good night's work capped off with a tasty, tasty meal. It doesn't get too much better than that!

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The 'famous' away ground panoramic video.....

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