From http://thewatfordnest.blog.com/ This blog was supposed to be about the Wigan game, the start of the new Premiership season for Watford. Unfortunately heavy rain for 60 minutes followed by rain which is just indescribable and which lasted for (a mere) 10 minutes left the pitch unplayable. Watford had looked the much better side, Ash Young’s free kick rebounding off the post, and other chances went begging before the same old story developed. Watford took their feet off the gas, Heskey was allowed to much space and scored. Watford then equalized bang on half time, Tamas Priskin, clearly loving his first league goal, on his home debut. Positive signs for Fulham, despite his goal not counting… New Years Day Football…why do they have them? Or more importantly why do we go? And why do we endure the types of journey I was forced to endure on a day when I was suffering the worst hang over I could have imagined? Because that is what supporting a team is all about I guess. At 11.50 Berkhamsted station was a friendly place to be, Watford fans saying happy new year to each other, and the ticket office seemed less rushed than usual…then it went wrong…horribly. A major signalling failure at Watford Junction meant trains were terminating at Hemel, with no bus replacement service running to Watford at that point. To cut a long story short, me and my mate had no hope of getting to the match at this point due to not having a car. A fellow horn, clearly seeing our distressed looks offered to give us a lift into London, the time was now 12.45, a race against time if ever there was one! Eventually at 2.10 he dropped us off at Maida Vale (Anyone heard of that station? I hadn’t!) whilst he parked. Changing at Paddington we got to Putney Bridge at 2.40, getting into our seats at 2.57! The minutes silence that followed for Maurice Cook was one of the best observed that I have witnessed, and it was fitting that it was observed by two teams that he once played for. Watford did not start brightly at all and the relatively reliable defence was looking more shaky as each minute passed. Chance after chance seemed to leave me with my heart in my mouth, and the only way to release this tension was to join in with another rallying call of ‘Yellow Army’ starting some where to the right behind me. The defence still leaking eventually conceded. Helguson, not marked tightly enough did a trademark leap and planted the ball in the back of the net. Even the goal celebration music played, before everyone realised the Linesman had his flag up. This situation was repeated again roughly 10 minutes later, this time replays showed the goal should have scored. Macca who had looked bright in the 55 minutes against Wigan was off the pace, but he did create Watford’s best chance when he crossed to Tommy Smith who headed over from close range when the goal looked an easier target. Watford’s best spark in the first half was Tamas Priskin experiencing a second league debut, and who appears to have good technical ability and is not afraid to run at defenders. Henderson was brought on for Tommy Smith at half time. The crowd cheered his name, despite a few mutterings of discontent, everyone united in the desperation for him to score soon so he can get back to what he did last season. It was tragic when he hit the post with a ferocious shot in the 95th minute, if that had gone in all those misses would have been forgotten, but it wasn’t to be. Watford created more in the second half but Fulham still should have taken the lead having the two best chances of the half, the first of which was a low cross into the box which Helguson managed not to get on the end of. The second chance fell to Collins John, who if you believe the papers will soon be signing for Watford. When he dribbled round Ben Foster with ease he looked like the type of player we need…then he missed the open goal staring him in the face. There were 9 minutes of stoppage time because of a nasty injury to Niemi at the start of the second half. During this time the rain fell, after the Wigan fiasco I had an image of the fool Steve Bennet abandoning the game in the 99th minute. I wouldn’t have put it passed him. Late in the game, Steve Bennet who drove every Watford fan insane with inconsistent decisions throughout made an even bigger fool of himself by sending Priskin off. He did not once book a Fulham player who slid in on the young Hungarian. Mr Bennet did not have a clue, he has clearly gone senile in his old age, and just what Tamas must think of English football…One can only imagine Aidy explaining how defenders can get away with murder, but a striker who holds onto a defenders shirt when they are not going anywhere in the 97th minute will be sent off without fail. Mr Bennet, you were a joke, a disgrace. A draw was a fair result. Unforgettable for two reasons, firstly due to the journey and secondly because the lack of vocal opposition fans meant the Watford fans sang to each other. For the record despite being in the middle, I opted to support the right side in their quest for vocal superiority. All together now “We’re the right side, we’re the right side, we’re the right side over here!”
Ahhh another one who suffered at the hands of this "total signal failure", i got the tube from chesham and made it into the ground around the time you did.
Very good write up IMO. There seems to be a familiar theme with all these reports now, a very bad referee!
