5:05pm Saturday 13th March 2010
Watford’s plight at the wrong end of the table has deepened after resurgent Peterborough United picked up their first away win of the season with a 1-0 victory at Vicarage Road this afternoon.
The Championship’s bottom club completed the double over the Hornets thanks to Liam Dickinson’s 51st-minute lob, capitalising on error of judgement from Scott Loach.
The Hornets tried to get back on terms but, worryingly, they failed to score for the third consecutive game for the first time this season in slumping to a fourth straight defeat.
Despite seeing his side lose their previous three games, Hornets boss Malky Mackay chose to make just the one change, with Tom Cleverley returning from suspension to replace Jon Harley.
Loach has been near faultless for the Hornets in recent months despite the poor string of results and he produced a great double stop to stop Peterborough from taking the lead on 12 minutes.
First poor communication in the Watford defence allowed Craig Mackail-Smith in and the former St Albans City striker tried to lob the ball over Loach but the keeper saved with his chest. The ball then fell to Dickinson and the England Under-21 international parried away the striker's powerful shot from a tight angle.
Watford had to wait almost half hour for their first real chance. The ball fell to the returning Cleverley 18 yards out but his volley was comfortably over.
The Hornets had another near escape shortly before the break but this time they had the post to thank.
Aaron Mclean was thrown the ball 20 yards out and he turned sharply and struck a first-time shot against the post, with Loach scrambling across the goal.
The visitors, who made a change at the break with the giant Exodus Geohahgon coming on for Sergio Torres, had the first chance of the second period in the 49th minute when Mclean fired narrowly wide of Loach’s right-hand post.
But Posh got the goal they had been threatening two minutes later – and it was a disaster for the Hornets and Loach, in particular.
The England Under-21 keeper bizarrely came right to the edge of his area to challenge for a ball, lost out in a 50-50 challenge and then could only watch Dickinson’s superb 25-yard lob sail over him as he back-tracked towards his own line.
Watford, spurred on by the Rookery, tried to respond, with Adrian Mariappa forcing Joe Lewis into a blocking save with the home side’s first on-target attempt and then Danny Graham missed the target from eight yards following a cross from Cleverley.
That was to be Graham’s last involvement in the game as he was replaced by Will Hoskins on 61 minutes and then Liam Henderson came on for Don Cowie 11 minutes later.
But another opportunity was not forthcoming until the 75th minute when Henri Lansbury was fouled on the edge of the Peterborough box, but Cleverley struck the resultant free-kick narrowly over.
The game was now being played almost exclusively in the Posh area and Mariappa was the next to try his luck with a right-footed shot from inside the area that Mark Little blocked.
But Watford survived another let off with six minutes when Loach tipped a header from Reuben Reid, who had only just come on to the pitch as a replacement for Mclean, onto the bar following a long throw from Geohaghon.
Still the Hornets kept pushing for the equaliser though, with Hoskins chancing his arm with an ambitious 35-yard effort that only narrowly cleared the bar, but that was as close as they came.
Watford: Loach; Mariappa (McGinn 85), DeMerit, Taylor, Doyley; Cowie (Henderson 72), Eustace, Lansbury, Cleverley; Graham (Hoskins 61), Helguson. Not used: Jenkins, Harley, R Lee and Hodson.
Peterborough United: Lewis, Little, Morgan, Zakuani, Griffiths (Simpson 75); C Lee; Torres (Geohaghon 46), Rowe; Mackail-Smith, Dickinson, Mclean (Reid 83). Not used: McKeown, Day, Crook and Green.
Bookings: Lansbury after 39 mins; Helguson after 90 mins.
Attendance: 16,591.
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/trade_directory/