On Tuesday afternoon I joined a Community Trust event in aid of International Women’s Day at the training ground. A number of school groups of girls had a morning of football training with coaches from the Trust. I was there for the Women at the Game week on a panel with the wonderful Helen Ward to answer questions from the girls. Needless to say, most of the questions were for Helen but the girls were engaged, and their questions were interesting. It was a privilege to take part.
My journey to the game was longer than expected due to problems with overhead cables on the line that led to a number of train cancellations. I had time to meet Kate from Women of Watford for a quick drink before heading to the ground where I joined a number of other fans from the We Allies group to meet with assessors from the EFL who are judging the EDI work at the club to see whether it meets their standards for the EDI EFL Code of Conduct Gold level. The discussion was interesting and it was clear that the assessors were impressed with the work that the club were doing in this area.
The meeting finished some time before kick-off, so a few of us headed for the Red Lion for a pre-match drink. I don’t think I have ever been there on a matchday, and I don’t think I will do so again as the beer choice was dreadful and the atmosphere was flat.
Team news was that Ismaël had made four changes from the Millwall game with Bachmann coming in for Hamer after his mare on Saturday, and Andrews replacing the injured Ngakia. Porteous and Dele-Bashiru also came in for Sierralta and Kayembe. So, the starting XI was Bachmann; Lewis, Hoedt, Porteous, Andrews; Asprilla, Dele-Bashiru, Livermore; Sema, Bayo, Dennis.
The first chance of the game came after Dele-Bashiru won the ball in midfield and released Asprilla who went on a lovely run, Sema was available in space to his left, but he opted to take a shot that was blocked. The Hornets threatened again as Sema played the ball back to Lewis in the box, his shot was deflected over the bar. After a bright start, the Hornets went behind to a disastrous own goal after 18 minutes. Andrews had his eyes on a long ball played over the top and missed the fact that Bachmann had come out to meet it so headed it past him and into the empty net. We were behind the goal so had the perfect view as the horror unfolded. Given the fragile confidence of the squad at the moment, this did not augur well for the rest of the game.
The first chance for the Hornets to hit back came from a free kick which Sema delivered over the wall but into the arms of Rushworth in the Swansea goal. The Hornets were nearly caught out again as Lewis was dallying with the ball and was robbed by Ronald who advanced and hit a shot that was blocked by the legs of Bachmann. The subsequent corner was delivered low and met by Grimes whose shot was blocked. The first caution of the game went to Tymon for flattening Andrews as they both went up for a header. The next chance for the Hornets came as Dennis cut into the box and hit a shot that was deflected over the target. The Hornets had another chance when Asprilla played the ball out to Dennis who played it back for Sema whose shot was blocked. The resultant corner was met by the head of Porteous whose effort just cleared the bar. Ismaël was forced into a change at that point as King Ken had picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Chakvetadze. The substitute’s first act was to pick up a card for an innocuous looking foul on Darling. The subsequent free kick was headed wide by Darling, but the flag was up anyway. The cards were coming thick and fast as Livermore was booked for a foul on Ronald. The resultant free kick almost led to a second goal as it was taken short, Paterson exchanged passes with Ronald before crossing for Cabango whose shot needed an excellent save from Bachmann to keep it out. The half time whistle went to boos from the Vicarage Road faithful.
The guest being interviewed at half time was Jay DeMerit, who appeared wearing a rather outrageous yellow coat. He said that being back at Vicarage Road was like coming home. This is the original family club, and it feels like being back with family. He noted that when he was playing, the old East stand was not open as it had been condemned. He was given the opportunity to attempt the centre spot challenge and found the centre circle, but not the spot. He then presented an award to David Roberts, who has been the matchday commentator on Hospital Radio for the past 50 years. Following Jay, in honour of Women at the Game week, Amy Clement from Her Game Too and Kate Lewers of Women of Watford, who is a Her Game Too Ambassador, were on the pitch talking about the work of both groups and their efforts to tackle sexism in the game and to champion women in sport. It was great to see them both.
Ismaël made a change at the break bringing Koné on in place of Livermore. The first chance of the half for the Hornets came after Chakvetadze broke forward before releasing Bayo, he crossed for Dennis who tried to control the ball on his chest and was dispossessed. The first chance for the visitors came after Hoedt gave the ball away allowing Ronald to break forward, he found Paterson whose shot was deflected into the side netting. The resultant corner was met with a header from Darling that took a deflection, but Bachmann made the save. The next chance came after good work from Asprilla to keep the ball in play, he played Andrews in, but his cross was deflected out. Dennis met the resultant corner with a header which was straight at the keeper.
The Hornets drew level on 57 minutes from another corner. Chakvetadze’s delivery was headed on by Hoedt and Porteous turned it in. The goal certainly buoyed the crowd and, all of a sudden, there was a great atmosphere. The Hornets looked to take the lead when a Chakvetadze free kick was met by Bayo, but it was a bit high for him and he could not direct his header on target. On the hour mark, the visitors made a double substitution as Lowe and Cullen replaced Yates and Paterson. The Hornets threatened again as Chakvetadze went on a great run before cleverly cutting the ball back for Asprilla whose shot was blocked, the rebound fell to Lewis whose shot was deflected wide. Andrews’ difficult evening continued as he was booked after a late tackle on Płacheta who was about to break after a heavy touch had gifted him the ball. The visitors made two further substitutions bringing Naughton and Allen on in place of Darling and Fulton. There was another great move by the Hornets as a gorgeous tackle on Ronald by Hoedt allowed him to break forward before finding Koné who fed Asprilla who went on a lovely run before finding Dennis on the edge of the box, he hesitated before shooting as he tried to get a view of the goal and ended up firing wide of the near post. At the other end a run from Płacheta finished with a shot that was so far wide of the far post that it went out for a throw.
Ismaël made another change bringing Rajović on in place of Bayo. Would the home fans be treated to the sight of his long throws? (They weren’t). His first involvement was as the target of a pass from Hoedt, with which he failed to connect and Chakvetzdae had stopped his run so the move broke down. With 10 minutes remaining Swansea made their final change as Patino replaced Ronald. The Hornets continued their attacking play with a shot from Chakvetadze that was deflected into the arms of Rushworth. A rare Swansea attack was stopped by Porteous who was booked for tripping Tymon on the edge of the box. The free kick from Cullen hit the wall, the follow-up was caught by Bachmann. The Hornets threatened again as Lewis won the ball in midfield and played a lovely pass to release Dennis who broke upfield and took a shot from the edge of the box that was deflected wide. There was five minutes of added time and another great chance to grab a winner as Koné played a lovely ball to Asprilla in the box, his shot was blocked, the loose ball came to Lewis whose shot was also blocked, I hoped it would be third time lucky when the ball fell to Chakvetadze, but his effort was also blocked. The visitors had a chance to take all three points from a free kick that was met by the head of Cabango, but his effort flew wide of the target. The Hornets then had a final chance to grab a winner when a Chakvetadze free kick fell to Asprilla, but the shot was blocked, and the final whistle was blown on a creditable draw.
There were a couple of boos at the end, which I thought were totally undeserved given the second half performance. Thankfully, the crowd who gathered along the front of the Rookery were there to cheer the players rather than berate them. It had been a much better second half with lots of attacking play from the Hornets and plenty of shots, even if they struggled to get many on target. The goal had been a terrible one to give away, but they recovered well and grew in confidence as the game went on. It was the best we have seen from the Hornets in some time, and it was great to be in the Rookery with people on their feet cheering the lads on. Coventry will be a different prospect than Swansea, but let’s hope that this improvement continues to the weekend.
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