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Jermaine Easter fired Watford in front on 34 minutes but Watford levelled three minutes later through the recalled Lee Williamson, who scored the Hornets first goal in 296 minutes.

Watford were handed a golden chance to snatch all three points when Plymouth were reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Peter Halmosi with just under half-an-hour remaining, but they failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and had to settle for yet another draw.

The point came at a cost, however, as Darius Henderson, Watford's new captain, was booked late on and he misses the new two games.

Plymouth could also be in hot water after an incident involving Jordan Stewart and the home fans following the sending off of Halmosi.

Both side's struggled with the strong wind and the bobbly Home Park pitch in the opening stages, and the only goalmouth action of note in the first 20 minutes came when Paul Wotton whistled a long-range effort over the crossbar. Other than that the biggest cheer came when the linesman broke his flag.

Watford did successfully pin Plymouth in their own half thanks to the long throws of Leigh Bromby, who hurled in five missles in the first 12 minutes from the touchline, but the closest they came to testing the returning Luke McCormick came on 20 minutes. Staying up after a free-kick broke down, Dan Shittu surged past Rory Fallon down the left flank, cut into the penalty area but could only muster a toe poke that McCormick saved comfortably at the near post.

The game was crying out for a goal and Collins John should really have provided it on 23 minutes. The move of the half, involving a slick one two between John and Tommy Smith, sent the Dutch international sprinting clear. He took one touch, steadied himself but failed to beat McCormick who saved low to his right. It was John's best chance since he arrived on loan from Fulham.

There was precious little else for either sets of fans to cheer about until the 34th minute when Plymouth broke the deadlock. A mistake from Shittu allowed Fallon to send Easter racing down the inside right channel. He cut in and planted his firm shot past Richard Lee and into the far corner.

Watford, however, were behind for less than three minutes. A foul from Fallon on the edge of the box handed Williamson a shooting chance from the edge of the box and he curled a gorgeous effort over the wall and past the despairing dive of McCormick.

Assistant coach Malky Mackay instructed his players to keep their heads until half-time but they almost conceded a second just minutes before the break. A cross from Paul Connolly found Chris Clark unmarked at the far post, but the midfielder's touch was too heavy and Lee smothered the opportunity.

Watford felt they had claims for a penalty at the start of the second half when John went down in the area but Phil Joslin waved away their protests, much to the dismay of Boothroyd and Mackay who voiced their protests at the fourth official.

Plymouth boss Paul Sturrock switched his wingers, Halmosi and Gary Teale, over at the start of the second but it took until the 54th minute for his side to register their first attempt, Wotton firing well wide from long range.

Three minutes later, Shittu went much closer, stepping inside Fallon from a right-wing cross and then lashing a rising effort just over the bar.

Just 60 seconds later, Mat Sadler and Halmosi found their way into Joslin's notebook after becoming embroiled in a shoving match following a foul by Easter on Lee.

The game was starting to hot up and McAnuff went agonisingly close to putting Watford in front just before the hour, steering a curling right-footed effort just past the far post after a neat lay-off from Henderson.

At the other end, Bromby did magnificently to thwart Fallon and Teale with two excellent sliding tackles.

The game then exploded into life just after the hour mark. Halmosi fouled Sadler right in front of the Watford bench who leapt up demanding the Hungarian to be sent off. Kit man Bob Oteng was so incensed by the tackle that he petulantly squirted water on the winger. That promoted a furious reaction from the home fans sat behind the Watford dug out. Stewart, the un-used sub, became involved in a war of words with the Argyle supporters and reacted furiously to some comments from the home fans. In the end it required the stewards to restore order.

After a lengthy delay a motionless Halmosi was stretched off and was shown a yellow card by Joslin, forcing Plymouth to play the last 27 minutes with ten men.

Sturrock responded to the dismissal by introducing Lillian Nalis and Jim Paterson, while Boothroyd made his first substitution soon after, replacing John with Nathan Ellington.

Plymouth did not play like a side who were reduced to ten men and they came within a whisker of claiming a sensational winner on 82 minutes. A low free-kick from Wotton went through the wall, was palmed onto the post by Lee, who then regathered the rebound ahead of Easter.

Watford posed very little threat as an attacking force in the last third of the match yet almost pounced with devastating effect on 84 minutes. A long throw from Bromby was flicked on by Shittu and fell nicely for McAnuff in space on the edge of the box. However he could not keep his drive down and Plymouth breathed a huge sigh of relief when the winger's effort sailed into the stand.

Watford went even closer in the ten minutes of injury time, Shittu seeing a towering header from a Sadler corner brilliantly cleared off the line by Jim Patterson.

Plymouth: McCormack; Connolly, Anderson, Siep, Sawyer; Teale (Paterson 74), Wotton (capt), Clark (Nalis 74) Halmosi; Easter, Fallon (Timar 88).

Subs not used: MacLean, Mackie.

Watford: Lee, DeMerit, Shittu, Bromby, Sadler; Smith, O'Toole, Williamson, McAnuff; John (Ellington 77), Henderson (capt). Subs not used: Poom, Kabba, Stewart, Bangura.

Ref: Phil Joslin.

Bookings: Sadler, Halmosi, Henderson, O'Toole.

Sent off: Halmosi (68).

Att: 17,511 (Watford 1,227).

5:03pm Saturday 22nd March 2008

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