Watford away FA Cup 2007

I can't believe it was 7 years ago, it seems like yesterday.

We were struggling in League 2 and they were struggling in the Premiership. When we took the lead I honestly thought we were on for a giant killing.. Obviously it wasn't to be.

I remember seeing a video on YouTube of a phone recording from the Watford end when we scored and it was loud as anything.

He made a howler in that game for Moses Ashikodi to score when he completely missed the ball trying to clear a back pass.

Report of game...a touch long......
Almost 3000 County fans made the trip to Vicarage Road to support the team yesterday and cheered their heroes to the hilt throughout the ninety minutes and beyond……………it was not enough to see County progress on the gloomiest of gloomy days .
Watford ran out winners but the 4/1 margin greatly flattered the Premiership side who prospered thanks to a fluke and three gift goals .
For much of the first half County had looked on for at least a replay having taken the lead through a clinically executed strike by Poole that was engineered by Dinning-it was the goal of the game by a country mile but in the end that thought was all they had to cling to at the final whistle alongside the knowledge that they had ,particularly in the first half, kept the southerners very much on their toes with a lively showing that belied the respective positions of the two protagonists within footballs hierarchy .
So much pressure did County exert that Watford were compelled to do the unthinkable and introduce Young ( the man they are anxious to sell for big bucks to some Premiership high flyer or other )to stem the tide of County attacks .
Young is now cup tied should he be sold on but …hey …desperate situations call for desperate measures and the move worked for the home side who increased their lead in the second period albeit with goals of distinctly doubtful quality .
County need not be too despondent at this showing but it will require much work to restore Spencers confidence after a thoroughly shaky second half display from the young Stockport custodian -County’s back room staff have to earn their pay in this respect and fast if Jamie is to come back from this .
Almost straight from the kick off ,following a neat intervention by Tunnicliffe , County surged forward and on loan dunger Ben Foster was in trouble as he rushed to clear and found himself stranded somewhere near the centre of Watford High Street .
The goal gaped but Taylor just could not turn and get a shot off at the seemingly easy target -Dinning eventually did so but his effort went several yards wide of goal .
McNamee countered for the Hornets but Spencer got down well to save at the foot of the near post .
Would be Bundesleaguer Michael Malcolm was next to show but his run through the middle was halted in rather brutal style by Mackay -I was hoping for a Dinning special as he and Rose hovered over the dead ball smack in front just beyond the box but in the event Rose took it and Foster dived to his right to make the save at the second attempt with Malcolm coming through at speed .
The ball was briefly in the County net following another run down the left by McNamee and the resultant corner but ,despite howls of protest from the home forwards , Ashikodi ( a last minute signing from Scottish football ) was very clearly off side when he shot home .
It was ,as I say , obviously not a goal but it had followed a corner and once again we had proved less than excellent in our efforts to combat same !
It was Watford who were in danger of shipping water however and they were in all sorts of trouble at the back as the County following roared for a penalty as a Hornet hand appeared to caress the ball inside the box .
No spot kick was awarded and Watford replied through Smith who having leaned all over Griffin on his way through gained the home side a fortuitous corner which Tunnicliffe dealt with decisively .
Both teams were busily probing their opponents with Dickinson and Malcolm harassing Foster at one end and Spencer doing well to prevent Ashikodi from reaching McNamee’s cross at the other .
So it went on as Tunnicliffe ( under pressure from McNamee ) and Gleeson cleared their lines .
Clare did some excellent work at the back ,where Tunniclife was doing ever so well in the absence of Ash Williams , and after winning possession he sent Dickinson in the clear but Dicko looked hard done by when he was floored by Mackay and Mr Probert refused to give County a free kick .
Foster meanwhile was having a game to forget as , under some pressure from Dickinson, he sliced the ball horribly -somehow Watford survived the experience but it did not look at all Premiership stuff to me !
Owen and Tunnicliffe combined well in the County cause with some good work at the back but a series of corners followed for Watford as first Dinning was called on the block an intended strike by Ashikodi and a deflection off Griffin put the pressure back on the last line of the County defence .
Ashikodi got to the second corner and managed to get a shot off but Spencer held it well diving to his left .
Ashikodi was trying his best on his debut but for the most part he was finding Tunnicliffe well up to the task of facing down his challenge which he did once again to set up a abortive raid by the blues .
Watford hit back and there was a sharp intake of breath behind the County goal as Spencer missed Smith’s cross as it came over -County were able to keep it out with effective cover near the far post but they were mightily relieved when Mackay’s header cleared the bar by some distance .
Within two minutes of this action County took the lead and it was a quality goal !
Mackay had just fouled Dickinson for………….well I had lost count of how many times ……..and County had just wasted the free kick when Dinning brought the ball back through the middle before sending a delightfully weighted ball into Poole’s path as he hared off in Foster’s direction .
On…………on he went keeping his powder dry as Foster contemplated advancing ………..Poole made any further thought on the keepers part irrelevant by despatching his shot low past Fosters dive into the net to give County the lead .
2899 voices were raised in salute of this excellent strike as Watford’s crestfallen ,and largely silent , following contemplated the unthinkable !
Watford were clearly rattled so much so that Mariappa earned himself a yellow with a classic dive inside the County box .
When Watford turned their hands to legitimate tactics they found Tunnicliffe and Owen in particularly good fettle blocking any progress through the middle-Tunnicliffe was doing especially well !
The home side kept pressing though and Tunnicliffe had to act decisively to stop Henderson with Spencer anchored to his line as the Watford man made his way to the edge of the County box-it was a Watford throw thanks to Tunnicliffe and the thanks rang out again almost immediately as the youngster was there on the line to head clear .
A lively run by Gleeson down the left caused Watford some trouble but Foster was able , not without some difficulty , to gather and block the raid eventually .
It was Watfords turn to attack next and Tunnicliffe was on hand to block a couple of goal bound efforts as the Hornets strove desperately to equalise .
They had to settle for a corner but things soon brightened up for Andy Boothroyd’s side as County totally failed to deal with it .
The ball was delivered long to the far post where a host of players watched its progress as if transfixed by some spell .
Mackay knew nothing about it when it struck his outstretched leg but the contact was enough to force it home and the teams were level .
Some more Watford pressure followed next but Spencer was on hand to gather and Dinning tidied up well when debut boy Ashikodi threatened down the middle .
Meanwhile it was business as usual at the other end as Mackay again could be seen pulling Dickinson to the ground with no admonishment in response from the officials .
It was time next for County to pin Watford back in deep defence as Malcolm and Dickinson worked a corner for the blues .
Foster was still not having the best of days between the sticks and although his action in tipping the first incoming corner over the top for another was decisive enough his ineffectual punch out that greeted the second flag kick could have ushered in something more hurtful than a third which he coped with just as poorly .
Somehow Watford survived and Clare was on hand to deal confidently with the break up field when it came !
Good work from Malcolm and Taylor was interrupted as Stewart was able to get sight of goal and get a shot off that Spencer did terrifically well to get to and push around the post for a corner -he caught the incoming flag kick to boot as the smile returned to 2899 faces once again !
It was still very much end to end stuff as the final minutes of the first half neared and MacNamee and Clare engaged in a mighty tussle down the right side of the County defence which resulted in a corner that Tunnicliffe headed out in authoritative style .
Some good to great football from County ended Hendersons run down the right after the Hornet had been allowed by the yellow flagged liner to take the ball out of play and in again ( de ja vu or what !).
Into added time and the play ended with Malcolm and Dickinson pressing the home team back into their own half .
Bramble was on for Malcolm when the teams kicked off again and Tes was almost through straight away as Foster was forced to make a hurried clearance onto the condemned terrace to our left .
County were starting as they meant to go on….attacking and Poole was a whisker away from converting an excellent ball from Dinning into something dangerous-his first touch was a tad too strong and the ball ran out of play with the defender struggling to offer any cover in response .
The next action effectively scuppered County’s chances …
Henderson appeared to make hand to ball contact as he cut inside down the right before crossing the ball into the middle -it all seemed to happen in ultra slow motion as County’s defenders appeared unable to react as the ball reached Smith .
It was the sort of scuffed effort I might have made in similar circumstances but ,somehow , it found its way past Spencer into the net to give Watford a fortuitous lead .
Watford enjoyed a period of pressure next but County were by no means finished if Watford thought they were !
Dickinson continued to fall to earth following the tender attentions of Mackay and Mr P continued to ignore the felonies.
Foster was called on to make a hurried headed clearance into the crowd and the County following had more reason to groan as they were denied a clear corner by the irritating yellow flagged liner to our left !
Bang…………wallop…………..down went Dicko again as the cherubic Mackay looked on barely a hairs breadth away !
County were in full attacking flight so , particularly in view of Mr P’s past form , it was reasonable to expect / assume that play would be allowed to carry on as the foul went un admonished once more !
Not a bit of it ………..the official promptly stopped County in full flow to award them a free kick…………..dustcart refereeing( with apologies to any dustmen reading this !).
Taylor sent the free kick into the box but Brambles header was a disappointment and went tamely out of play .
County were still giving a good account of themselves and Taylor looked on aghast as his shot a minute later drifted just beyond the far post with the keeper beaten .
Still they surged forward with Poole looking particularly lively at this stage down the right where he sent Dicko away only to see him clattered for the umpteenth time by Mackay and getting only a throw as a result .
Poole would not be denied however and, from the throw , his ball inside from the by-line picked out Bramble just inside the box .
Tes’s turn wrong footed the defensive cover but his shot hit the defenders hand and soared off away from goal .
“Penalty “ was the cry from behind Foster’s goal but the referee ( who admittedly was about a mile away from the action )saw nothing………..what of another of hells liners though…………..Mr Yellow Flag ?……..he was within spitting distance with a clear view…no excuse !
Back came County as if stung by the injustice with Stewart just able to stop Poole on another flyer down the right .
If Poole was blocked it was only temporary and he was soon sending a superb cross from the by-line that Gleeson headed a mere fraction over the top !
This was great stuff from County and a clearly rattled Boothroyd responded by sending Young on to bolster his sides flagging morale .
The pressure was still on Watford and Dickinson was unlucky to see Foster block his effort when he raced clear .
It was very much a case of County calling the shots as Clare almost found a way through on the break .
With twenty minutes left La Fondre came on for Dickinson -a logical move to make but in the event one that probably back fired on County as Mackay found Alfies rapier easier to deal with than the bludgeon of Dicko -he was soon able to get forward as well to our cost !
Watford were getting forward now and Spencer had to save under pressure with County temporarily down to 10 .
County held out but not for long as ,back to 11 , they conceded a free kick which Henderson sent looping across goal .
There appeared nothing too menacing about it but Spencer completely misjudged it as he rushed across his goal leaving Mackay the simple task of side footing it home behind him .
County rallied but it was not long before Watford came back for more home forwards simply queuing up to get a shot off that Spencer managed to deflect for a corner which Owen headed out.
Tommy Roe was now on for the blues but Watford were now getting a whiff of the red stuff and Spencer made a complete wakes of a simple clearance slicing the ball into the path of Ashikodi and it was 1 / 4 as the forward slotted it home .
To their credit County did not give up even at this sage and a flick on by Tes saw young Roe send a header on target that Foster kept out with a good diving save .
Spencer appeared by this stage to be mentally elsewhere and he very nearly gave us a repeat of goal number four with another horror clearance .
Still County refused to die quietly as shots from Poole and Bramble were charged down and a missed punch out by Foster went for a corner instead of ending up in the net as County’s wholehearted effort deserved .
Into the final minutes and Griffin had to effect a hasty clearance after Mr Probert had put us under pressure with a poor free kick award to Watford and Alfie saw a good strike saved by Foster .
As the game neared its end so the County contingent gave lusty full voiced support to their manager -it was heart warming stuff and repeated again when the team came over after the whistle .
There is no need for despondency on this showing and much to be happy about .
Anything that needs addressing I am sure Jim will sort .
Oh….and in conclusion …..another word of praise for the show of flags…..truly excellent stuff that must inspire the team no end !


Regards.


Ian Brown


County line up : 4/4/2.


Spencer , Clare , Owen , Tunnicliffe , Rose , Poole , Taylor , Dinning ( Roe 80 ),Griffin , Malcolm (Bramble 45 ) , Dickinson ( La Fondre 70 ) .

Subs not used ;

Deasy , Raynes .


Attendance :11745 ( Hatters 2899 )

I'd have Tunnicliffe and Dickinson...................Wait a minute....................   

What a great day that was, we took far more than I expected and the team put in a good performance, 4-1 flattered Watford.

I remember the weather being shite, it was raining for hours before the game and the pitch was covered right up until near kick off, at the time I remember thinking there was strong chance the game could be called off.

Those kind of days feel along way off at the moment!

I'd have Adam Griffin and David Poole.