Blackpool vs Watford (21/02/09) (From Watford Observer)

Watford prove they are 2 much for Blackpool

5:50pm Sunday 22nd February 2009 in Sport By Luke Truppin

‘Two’ was a prominent number lurking around Bloomfield Road. It was Watford’s second away victory of the season, second win in a week and to top it off, the Horns won it by two goals to nil.

It could have easily been three. Smith’s volley from outside the box never looked like going in, but a slight deflection from Priskin meant the ball crossed the line, only for it to be ruled out due to an offside.

The 90 minutes would have had to be truly amazing to match up to the last meeting which ended 4-3 to Blackpool and ended Boothroyd’s reign as manager. The first half at Bloomfield Road failed to have the glitz that the second half provided. So much so, that the goalless first half was enough to persuade the locals peeping through the fence to leave well before the interval.

In the ten month gap between Watford’s last visit to Blackpool, virtually no changes to the stadium have been made at all. For the second year in a row Watford fans have had to sit in temporary seating and watch the Golden Boys attack a goal overlooked by a Travelodge. In truth, purchasing a room in a Travelodge would have the luxury of a Skybox and could even work out cheaper than Blackpool’s £27 tickets for uncovered seating.

But before you buy your early bird tickets to the seaside, it may be worth considering whether Blackpool could stay in this division for yet another season. With two teams, two points behind and who have two games in hand (one of them Watford) don’t be surprised when Blackpool find themselves back in the thick of the relegation battle.

The Seasiders were constantly harassed by Tamas Priskin who took no time at all to fire a curling effort towards Matt Gilks. Baptiste setup the closest chance of the half stealing countless yards from a throw that nearly paid off for Taylor-Fletcher but Loach was more than equal to it.

Jorgensen was involved in a clash of heads and was out of play for a lengthy period. His presence was hardly missed though as Watford continuously failed to capitalise. The second half was the real home of the action. Priskin tried all his flips and tricks to bring the ball forward and his cross came in the form of an overhead kick. Soon after he found the ball in a similar position and decided against the cross and turned on the spot to get his shot away. It did go over the crossbar, but only just.

Smith, with the ball at his feet, ran from the left corner flag to the right one and halfway back again; all the while failing to find sufficient space for the shot he was looking for and, as a result, had to settle for a corner. It was only the second corner of the game and the second to find the head of Mike Williamson. It was lucky number two for Williamson scoring his first goal in a yellow shirt.

The goal made the Blackpool players’ heads drop and it wasn’t until the inclusion of Watford nemesis Brett Ormerod that the Hornets remembered that winning a corner was a difficult task. The pick of this plethora of corners was the aforementioned disallowed goal.

The pendulum of momentum did eventually sway in favour of Blackpool and they finally made Loach look nervy. Barker’s long throw caused mayhem, although no one was able to pull the trigger. Mike Williamson came closest for Blackpool as Williamson nearly put it through his own net. Stephen Crainey looked like he had a lethal left foot but nothing ever came to fruition. The best that Blackpool could muster was Taylor-Fletcher impressively firing over the bar from inside the six-yard box.

Jon Harley was substituted on ten minutes before time and despite his brief appearance should have found the net. Priskin should have passed to Harley who would have had an open goal but Priskin chose to chip Gilks in the Blackpool net. Spectacularly, if selfishly, Priskin made it 2-0.

That was to be Priskin’s last contribution as Rogers’ decided to substitute the previously cautioned Hungarian. The game finished 2-0 and marked Rogers’ first away victory. The stadium may have been a building site and the pitch may have been a beach, but dare I say it: the future’s bright, the future’s Rogers.