5:09pm Saturday 6th February 2010
Watford's awful away form was made even worse this afternoon with a 1-0 defeat to the ten-men of Barnsley.
The Hornets have only tasted victory away from home three times this season and have not picked up maximum points on the road since beating Middlesbrough 1-0 on October 17.
It was a scrappy game of few chances but it was Barnsley who took the lead through Emil Hallfredsson ten minutes after half time.
The visitors were boosted by the sending off of Ryan Shotton with 15 minutes to go and did have chances late on, notably Henri Lansbury's 95th minute free kick which was excellently saved, but the Hornets couldn't find the elusive equaliser.
Malky Mackay was forced into the one change from the side that beat Sheffield United in mid-week. Top-scorer Tom Cleverley failed to shake off a knee injury from that victory and his place on the left side of midfield was taken by Jon Harley. However, Henri Lansbury was fit to play after recovering from a stomach bug.
After a low-key opening it was the home side who had the first attempt in the sixth minute. Emil Hallfredsson cut inside off the left flank and found Felipe Teixeira on the right edge of the box but his shot deflected off Lloyd Doyley and looped through to Scott Loach.
Harley had the visitors’ first effort five minutes later, but his long-range effort was blocked.
On 13 minutes though, a long clearance from Luke Steele threatened to cause chaos in the Hornets’ box, Loach had no choice but to come to punch and in the process clattered into Martin Taylor and the ball broke for Hallfreddson, who was unable to find the target past the back-tracking Hornets keeper and the covering Doyley. After receiving treatment, Watford’s new centre-half was fine to continue.
Hallfredsson was causing problems and in the 18th minute Adrian Mariappa was booked after clearly pulling him back. Soon after, Barnsley’s first corner of the match ended with Teixeira striking a left-footed half-volley from the edge of the area wide of Loach’s left-hand post.
The home side were on top but Watford had a chance in the 21st minute when Lansbury drove forward and found the overlapping Doyley on the left, but his low centre was dragged wide of the target by Harley.
Anderson de Silva then had a shot deflected behind at the other end, but the Hornets had a decent spell mid-way through the half that, although it didn’t result in any attempts on goal, offered encouragement.
However, it took a fine challenge from Jay DeMerit to prevent Andy Gray from the getting on the end of a Hallfredsson cross in the 31st minute when the Tykes had broken at pace after John Eustace had carelessly given the ball away in the opposition half.
Barnsley though, were going off the boil after their early promise and in the 38th minute they were rather fortunate not to concede a penalty when Lansbury exchanged passes with Helguson before he went down under a tackle from behind by Carl Dickinson. The Arsenal loanee was convinced he should have got the decision but referee Fred Graham signalled that the left-back had won the ball.
Teixeira sent another attempt from distance wide at the other end and that was it for a goalless opening period that was rather tame and limited in goalmouth action.
The first effort of the second period fell to the dangerous Hallfredsson, however, his 30-yard, left-footed, effort was comfortably over the bar.
A minute later and the Hornets broke with numbers and once again Harley was slipped through one-on-one and once more, the former Chelsea man was marginally offside as his shot was saved by Steele.
Ross Jenkins was having a quiet game but in the 52nd minute he found space just inside the Barnsley area and his low cross was just cleared as Helguson attempted to bundle the ball home.
Nathan Doyle's 30-yard screamer, which rattled against the post, injected life into the game and the home side opened the scoring minutes later.
The ball was bouncing around 20 yards out from Watford's goal and Hallfredsson beat Mariappa to the ball, as the full back fully committed himself to the challenge, leaving the winger to bare down on goal and fire powerfully past Loach at his near post.
Lansbury arguably looked Watford's biggest threat going forward playing just behind the striker, but Mackay introduced Danny Graham shortly after the hour mark to go with two up top, with Lansbury dropping to his favoured position in the centre of midfield.
Barnsley full back Carl Dickinson almost created a chance for Jay Rodriguez when he beat his man and crossed from the left but Doyley made an excellent recovery tackle.
Watford were spending time in the Barnsley half without creating anything of note as all of their crosses were being cleared by the home side's dominant centre halves.
Taylor had a header from a Cowie corner saved but on the whole, the Hornets were struggling to break down the defence.
The visitors' hopes of securing at least a point were boosted when Shotton was sent off for a dangerous lunge at Doyley with just over 15 minutes to go.
Taylor had looked relatively assured at the heart of Watford's defence but he almost gifted Barnsley the game with seven minutes to go as he scuffed a back pass and Gray ran through one-on-one. But the angle was a little tight and Loach managed to parry the ball away.
Will Hoskins was brought on for Doyley with five minutes to go as Watford went three at the back and three up top in search of the equaliser.
And the Hornets thought they had found it with two minutes of normal time remaining when a free kick wasn't cleared and Graham looped a header over Steele and into the top corner. But the referee claimed there had been an infringement and awarded Barnsley the free kick.
As five minutes of added time was announced by the fourth official, Watford won a corner but Helguson was unable to keep his header down and it went comfortably over.
Steele's kicking had been nothing short of terrible all game but when Eustace sent in a teasing cross in the fifth minute of added time, the keeper claimed convincingly.
It seemed as though their time was up but Helguson won a free kick 30 yards out and Lansbury had found the top corner with a curling shot only to see Steele claw the ball away.
But the drama still hadn't finised as Eustace hooked a cross into the box from the byline and Mariappa's volley from eight yards out went agonisingly wide.
Barnsley: Steele; Shotton, Foster, Moore, Dickinson; Colace, Doyle; Teixeira, De Silva (Rodriguez 54), Hallfedsson; Gray. Not used: Hume, Preece, Butterfield, Macken, Potter and Hammill.
Watford: Loach; Mariappa, DeMerit, Taylor, Doyley (Hoskins 85); Cowie, Jenkins (Graham 63), Eustace, Harley; Lansbury; Helguson. Not used: McGinn, Lee, Bennett, Bryan and Hodson.
Bookings: Mariappa for a foul on Hallfredsson after 18 mins; Collace for foul on Harley after 59 mins.
Sending offs: Shotton for dangerous tackle on Doyley after 76 minutes.
Attendance: 11,739. Away 443.
Referee: Fred Graham.
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