The journey to Newcastle is always a long one, but this weekend we had the added complication of engineering works on the line to Peterborough, meaning a diversion via Cambridge and a three hour journey stretching to 4.5 hours. The alarm went at an ungodly hour, my self-pity was slightly tempered by the knowledge that Don and the other coach travellers would already have boarded at that point. I left home in darkness for the tube journey to Kings Cross only to find out that there were no trains running beyond Euston on the Bank Branch. I thought about switching to the Victoria line for the final leg, but decided to walk instead. The injection of fresh air followed by a strong coffee woke me up.
There were a couple of unexplained stops early in the journey and, when I looked at my watch on reaching Peterborough, we had already been on the train for 2 hours. Still, they made up some time, we arrived only a couple of minutes behind schedule, and I was soon in the pub. Our designated pre-match pub is a lovely establishment. It is very narrow, which makes social distancing a challenge, so had been closed for a lot of the pandemic but reopened just before Christmas. It was great to be back. I had arranged the Women of Watford group again, but most of those who booked were not joining us in the pub. It turned out to be only Jane and I and I was delighted to be able to introduce her to the North West/Yorkshire/Happy Valley Horns in attendance. We were also joined by Meg and Simona, our SLOs.
We gave ourselves plenty of time for the walk up the hill to the ground and, more to the point, for the 140 steps up to Level 7. It is quite a trek, but there is a great feeling of achievement when you get there. As I looked around the stand, I saw lots of friendly faces. It was lovely to be greeted by so many smiles and waves. Even better, lovely Mike was next to us in the stand. All the better to be surrounded by good people on what was likely to be a challenging afternoon.
Team news was that there were six changes from the Tottenham game. Foster returned from injury to replace Bachmann, and the three new boys came in to replace the AFCON absentees. In addition, Ngakia and João Pedro were preferred to Sierralta and Sema. So, the starting line-up was Foster; Ngakia, Cathcart, Samir, Kamara; Kucka, Kayembe, Sissoko; João Pedro, Dennis, King. Newcastle included their recent signings, Trippier and Wood, in their starting XI. The vast distance from the away stand to the pitch made it difficult to see the numbers on the back of the red shirts, so it was going to be a challenge to identify the new boys.
There was a huge roar when the Newcastle team took to the pitch. Their fans were clearly up for this game. Although who wouldn’t be happy hearing “Local Hero”. There was a nervy start for the Hornets as a shot from Saint-Maximin took a deflection and Foster had to make a save to keep it out. At the other end, after a nice exchange of passes between Kucka and João Pedro, the ball was with King, who didn’t take the opportunity to shoot. The Hornets had a free kick on the edge of the box after Shelvey made a robust tackle on Kucka. Dennis stepped up to take it, but it was a disappointing effort that hit the Newcastle wall. He had a chance to make amends when the ball rebounded to him, but his follow-up flew over the target.
The Hornets threatened again as King put a low cross into the box, but there was no Watford player in position to take advantage. The home side could have taken the lead when a cross from Fraser was deflected to Joelinton, his instinctive shot hit the angle of the post and bar. The Hornets then launched a counterattack with Joäo Pedro releasing King whose shot was wide of the near post. A mistake at the back by the Hornets allowed Wood to escape, Cathcart sped back and put the ball out for a corner. The resultant delivery reached Joelinton, who shot wide of the target. Fraser then broke forward and crossed for Wood whose header cleared the bar. The Newcastle new boy had another chance to break the deadlock, this time from a cross from Joelinton but, again, his effort was over the bar. The home side won a free kick in a dangerous position. Trippier’s delivery was met by the head of Schär, who did no better, directing his effort wide of the target. The Magpies continued to threaten the Watford goal. This time Saint-Maximin broke into the box and played the ball back to Longstaff who shot over the bar. At the other end, a cross from Ngakia was headed goalwards by Samir, but it was an easy save for Dúbravka and we went into the break goalless.
Most of the chances in the first half had fallen to the home side, but the Watford defence had put in a decent shift, and the home side were missing their shooting boots, so Foster hadn’t been tested. Kucka had a bit of a mare, so I expected him to be replaced at half time.
As it happened there were no changes at the break. The home side took the lead four minutes into the second half. A mistake from Ngakia gifted the ball to Saint-Maximin who broke into the box, found space and hit a gorgeous shot past Foster. It was disappointing, but there was an inevitability to the goal given the amount of pressure that the Watford defence had been under. I took comfort in the lovely sunset that was visible over the opposite stand. The Hornets had a chance to break back when King found João Pedro in a dangerous position, but his shot was easily gathered by Dúbravka. Then Kayembe played a lovely through ball to King, Dúbravka came out to meet him and the Watford man should have done better than shooting straight at the keeper. Then Dennis broke forward and fed King who crossed for João Pedro, again the header was gathered by Dúbravka. 20 minutes into the half Ranieri made his first change, bringing Femenía on in place of Ngakia. The Hornets should have been level soon after when Dennis broke forward and found Sissoko in space, the Watford captain should have tested Dúbravka, but blasted his shot high and wide. In the 68th minute, there was applause in memory of David Harrison, a Newcastle season ticket holder and volunteer at the food bank. It was impeccably observed in all corners of the ground. The Hornets were having a great spell and had another chance to draw level when a corner was cleared to Kayembe, but his shot flew just wide of the near post.
With 15 minutes to go, each side made a substitution. Murphy replaced Fraser for the home side and Kucka made way for Cleverley for the Hornets, a change that we had all been calling for. The home side then had a half chance as Shelvey tried a shot from distance, but his effort was well over the bar. Both sides made a late substitution. Hernández replaced Dennis, who had had another disappointing afternoon, for the Hornets and Almirón came on for Saint-Maximin for the home side. Just when the Hornets looked to have run out of time, they grabbed an equaliser. Femenía played a one-two with Hernandez before putting in a lovely cross, João Pedro rose to meet it and beat Dúbravka to send the travelling Hornets wild. At that altitude, we really should have conserved our energy, but it was a goal to gladden our hearts and well worth the energetic celebration. There was four minutes of added time and there looked to be only one winner but, despite the action mostly being in the Newcastle half, the nearest the Hornets came to a winner was from a corner that went straight to Dúbravka.
There were boos at the final whistle from the home fans, while the travelling Hornets were quite happy with their hard-fought point. The aim of the afternoon had to be to avoid defeat and there were some very promising signs. All of our new boys put in a good shift. The two changes to the back four had certainly not weakened it, Samir and Kamara both showed up well. Kayembe had a decent game in the midfield, linking up well with King. Despite the mistake for the goal, Ngakia played well, but it was still good to see Femenía back on the pitch. João Pedro was a menace and deserved the goal as much as the team deserved the point. Psychologically, this will have done the Watford players a power of good while the Newcastle team will have come away disappointed at losing the points late on.
With Burnley’s game at the weekend postponed due to unavailability of players, the match on Tuesday must be in some doubt. Much as I enjoyed the 6 hours we spent in the cricket club on our previous visit, I am not sure that a repeat would do my liver any good, so I hope that the game goes ahead. Again, our aim must be to avoid a defeat, but a result that leads to complaints from Dyche will suit me very well indeed.
Fran's Watford Blog 