Watford’s first game this season was supposed to be played away from home but was moved to Vicarage Road due to problems with the QPR pitch. I have to say that I do like to start the season at home as a chance to catch up with the friends that you do not see during the Summer.
Given how awful a lot of last season was, I certainly didn’t leap out of bed with enthusiasm on Saturday morning. But I left home at a reasonable time before remembering that I had left my phone charging, so was without my season ticket. I headed back and, while there, I decided to pick up a fleece as it was cooler than it should have been in August (I already had a waterproof with me). Given the London opposition, the train was very busy, but I managed to get a seat and listened to the live From the Rookery End on the way. Their concerns for the season certainly mirrored mine.
On arrival in Watford, I headed for the Hornet Shop in order to buy the away and third shirts. On my way there I bumped into Sue and Bill who were among the people that had received new home shirts from the club for attending all of the games last season (I missed QPR away so had to buy mine). They had featured in the video that the club put out about it. I had been thrilled to see them in the video and told them so. The (ex-)player that had come to present the shirt to them was Lloyd Doyley. After the filming finished, they offered those doing the filming and Lloyd a cup of tea. The guys doing the filming headed off, but Lloyd was delighted to stay for a cup of tea and stayed chatting for an hour.
I greeted GT before buying my shirts and then headed to the West Herts where the usual suspects were gathered for the pre-match beers. There was much admiration of the lovely hornet that my niece had made for me for my birthday. It is a thing of beauty. None of us were particularly confident about our prospects for the season. The departure of João Pedro may have been lamented more than those of Sarr and Davis, but the three of them had been responsible for most of our goals last season. The loss of Cathcart, Cleverley, Kabasele and Troost-Ekong meant that the dressing room would also be short on leaders. I think we were all dreading the announcement of the team but when it came through it was filled with familiar names and appeared to be quite strong. The starting XI was Bachmann; Morris, Hoedt, Porteous, Ngakia, Dele-Bashiru, Sierralta, Louza; Martins, Bayo, Sema. The last person I spoke to before I left for the ground was Sally, who was feeling rather confident. I hoped that she was right.
As the teams were announced before kick-off, the new boys and the new manager were all given warm welcomes. I have liked what I have heard from Ismaël so far. I hope that the players have responded to his approach. His appointment of Dan Bachmann as club captain was criticised in a lot of circles, so I was pleased that Dan was loudly cheered as he took his place in goal.
The game started perfectly as a wonderful defence-splitting pass from Louza found Dele-Bashiru who beat Begović with 33 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately, this coincided with my sister greeting one of our friends in the Rookery, so they both missed the goal. I tried to comfort them with the hope that we would see some more. The Hornets came close to a second after 8 minutes when a cross from Morris was met by the head of Bayo, but Begović made the block. The first attack of note from the visitors came soon after with a cross from Smyth that was easily gathered by Bachmann. The next chance for the Hornets came as a Ngakia pass allowed Sema to break into the box, he made his way along the bye-line and took a shot that was deflected into the side-netting. The Hornets were two up after twenty minutes when Ngakia played a lovely ball to Louza who got into position and hit a shot from distance that found the bottom corner. A gorgeous goal. The next player to try his luck was Martins whose shot from an acute angle was saved by Begović. At this point, a photo came through from Trevor, who usually sits in front of us, but is actually a QPR fan, so was in the away end for the afternoon. He looked very unhappy. In contrast the Rookery were singing “We are top of the League.”
The next chance came as Ngakia crossed for Bayo who headed over the bar. Then a lovely ball over the top from Porteous reached Ngakia whose shot from an acute angle was blocked by Begović. Hoedt was the next to threaten with a shot that was blocked, the ball came back to him, and he headed it on to Sierralta whose header was over the target. There was another great chance as Louza chipped the ball into the box for Dele-Bashiru whose shot was pushed wide by Begović. The third goal came from a short corner that was played to Sema who lofted the ball into the box for Martins who looped a clever header over Begović. At this point one of the guys who sit behind us commented, “It’s going all right. I might come back for the second half.” I then noticed that Tom Cleverley was walking along the front of the Rookery, but most fans were so absorbed in the game that they didn’t see him. The fourth goal came when Ngakia played a lovely pass to Sierralta in the box, he hit a cross that was turned in by Bayo. There was 7 minutes of added time at the end of the half and a great chance for a fifth goal as Louza played a ball over the top for Bayo, Begović was coming out to meet him, so he could only lob his shot onto the roof of the net. The Hornets had one last chance to increase the lead before the half time whistle went, but Ngakia’s shot from distance flew wide of the far post. No matter as we reached half time in the totally unexpected position of being four goals to the good.
After the horrible rainy start to the day, the sun had come out for the Golden Boys, and we were given the opportunity to meet some new recruits as the new batch of scholars were introduced to the crowd. A group that includes Max Smith, son of Watford legend Tommy. There was an interview with Tom Cleverley about his new role as a coach in the Academy. I spoke to him at the 100 Years at the Vic dinner, and it was clear that he is loving his new role, particularly that it gives him the chance to develop young players and bring them through the system. He also said that he was thrilled to be able to take on this role at Watford as he considers this to be his home. I was delighted to hear that. His return along the front of the Rookery after the interview was serenaded as would have been expected.
Ismaël made a change at the break bringing Andrews on in place of Morris. Ainsworth made a double substitution replacing Smyth and Kelman with Duke-McKenna and Armstrong. The Hornets started the second half with a decent chance as Andrews cut the ball back for Martins whose shot flew wide of the far post, Bayo couldn’t quite reach this one to turn it in. The visitors then had a rare chance as a shot from an acute angle by Chair was saved by Bachmann, the follow-up hit the crossbar.
The Hornets had a great chance to increase their lead just before the hour mark when Ngakia went on a run before squaring for Louza who tried to chip Begović but was denied by the crossbar. The visitors had a chance to pull one back as Bachmann came out of goal and was chipped by Armstrong, who ran past him to pick up the ball but was at a tight angle so could only pull it back. Porteous was on the line in case he was needed, but no QPR player was anywhere near, so Bachmann was able to get back to pick up the loose ball. The Hornets then made a triple substitution giving us our first chance to see a couple of the new boys as Livermore, Chakvetadze and Koné came on in place of Louza, Dele-Bashiru and Sierralta, all of whom had put in a good shift. The first booking of the game went to Armstrong for a foul on Bachmann. The first sight of our Georgian came as he tried to break into the box but was pulled back by Field who was booked for his trouble. Koné took the free kick that was headed over by Hoedt, but the flag went up for offside. Chakvetadze took the next free kick, which was heading in at the near post, but Begović was able to make the save. Into the last 10 minutes and Ismaël made another change bringing Kayembe on in place of Martins. The Hornets continued to attack as Sema went on a run before playing a pass to Chakvetadze who shot just wide. Another good move finished with Sema feeding Andrews who shot into the side netting when he probably should have played in someone in a better position. Sema had the next chance, and it needed a good save from Begović to keep it out. The Rangers keeper was in action again soon after, dropping to stop a low shot from Koné. There was nine minutes of time added at the end of the second half. The visitors had a chance to pull one back as a decent move finished with a shot by Dykes, but Bachmann was down to make the save. The Hornets had another great chance as Andrews found Koné, who played the ball back to Sema who unleashed a powerful shot, but Begović was able to make the save. Ainsworth made a couple of late (rather pointless) changes replacing Dozzell and Chair with Dixon-Bonner and Willock, but it was all in vain as the Hornets ran out 4-0 winners.
We all headed back to the West Herts feeling a lot happier than we had been before the game. I saw Sally on my return who was delighted to be proved correct. That performance was just what we needed. The Hornets were completely dominant. They clearly had a plan and executed it. They looked like a team rather than the group of individuals that we saw all too often last season. All of the players worked hard, and they looked a lot fitter than they did last season. It was pleasing that nobody ran out of steam after an hour. Sierralta’s move to a midfield position had been met with some scepticism, but he was excellent, breaking up play when needed, but also contributing going forward culminating in an assist for Bayo’s goal. It was great to see Tom Dele-Bashiru back from injury. He looked really sharp, did well for his goal and almost scored a second. Ngakia has also come back this season with something to prove after an injury-plagued season last time out and he was instrumental in a lot of the forward play. Louza looked back to his best. And the new man, Chakvetadze contributed a very encouraging cameo. He is going to be fun.
While QPR were incredibly poor, Watford put in an impressive performance. If we continue in that vein, we will be a challenge for most teams in this division and this season will be a lot more fun than we have become used to. I love football again. I hope that continues to be the case.
Fran's Watford Blog 