Saturday, February 15, 2003

Watford beat top flight strugglers Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light to qualify for the FA Cup quarter-finals.

The pivotal moment of the game came in the 65th minute, when referee Mike Dean awarded Watford a soft penalty after Jason McAteer's arm struck Heidar Helguson, and then ordered a retake after Sunderland keeper Thomas Sorensen moved early to block Tommy Smith's first attempt.

Smith retained his composure and converted the retake to extend a particularly welcome cup run.

Reproduced by kind permission of Matt Rowson from his book, Watford FC On This Day