Sport: Local and national sport in and around Watford - Watford Observer

Watford vs Coventry City

• Kick off: 7:45pm Tue 29 Sep 09
• Referee: Andre Marriner
• Venue: Vicarage Road

Final score:

Watford 2 - 3 Coventry City

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94:00: Final whistle So Coventry win and you cannot underestimate the performance of Westwood. I thought Loach's display against Plymouth was something the other week but this may have been even better

93:00: Westwood comes to claim another cross

92:00: A shot from 30 yards by Lansbury is deflected wide for a corner and chaos occured. The initial ball into the box is cleared but then a goalmouth scramble sees Westwood make amazing save to deny Mariappa and there is a question of hand ball on the line from an effort from Henderson and then Eustace sliced his shot over from eight yards. Sorry the description is not clearer buy it was utter chaos

91:00: Another deep cross into the box is gathered by Westwood

90:00: Doyley's cross is headed into the danger area by Oshodi but the ball is cleared

89:00: Watford are on top but a cross into the box is claimed by Westwood. You can see why he has become Shay Given's understudy for the Republic of Ireland

88:00: Harley's cross into the box is headed towards goal by Eustace but Westwood tips the ball over and the corner is cleared

86:00: Mozzallero - Cork received a good reception before the game but there has been no songs during the match or anything like that

85:00: Goal! Another Coventry corner is cleared but it is sent back in and Eastwood's header ends up at the feet of Best to tap into the empty net, with Loach on the ground after trying to make the initial save

83:00: Coventry have a corner and although it is cleared, it is desperate stuff

82:00: Jon Harley volleys wide from 18 yards

81:00: Attendance is 13,034, with 749 from Coventry

80:00: Watford have a spell in Coventry's half but nothing comes of it and Coventry break but Best tries to shoot from 30 yards and Loach holds on the ball

78:00: Substitution Hodson has gone off and 17-year-old Eddie Oshodi has come on, with Bennett going to right back

75:00: Watford give the ball away and Clingan again shoots from distance but Loach holds on to the ball well

74:00: Henderson sends in a low cross across the box and Wright almost turns the ball into his own net but Westwood makes another excellent save

74:00: Watford have been struggling to cope with the aerial power of Best

72:00: Substitution Eastwood on for McIndoe. Eastwood has apparently been poor this season but he is always capable of something

72:00: Morrison and Mariappa square up and exchange a couple of pushes

70:00: Substitution Will Hoskins off and Liam Henderson on

69:00: Substitution Martin Cranie on for Patrick Van Aanholt

67:00: Absouletly shambolic defending from a corner sees Watford fail to clear the ball on numerous occasions and a header back across goal by Ward is nodded in by Best

67:00: Goal! Equaliser for Coventry

65:00: Chants of Lloydinho ring around Vicarage Road after the right-footed left back burst from his own half deep into the Coventry half but nothing came of the move

65:00: Watford look a little shaky at the back but they managed to clear another Gunnarsson long throw

62:00: Graham finds himself free in the box but unlike him, he takes an eternity to compose himself and Ward makes a great last-ditch tackle

62:00: Westwood's goal kick is flicked on by Best and Loach slides in to collect before Morrison arrives

61:00: Hoskins is a little gready and tries to go it alone on the edge of the area and fires the ball well wide

59:00: A long throw from Gunnarsson is headed out for a corner and Harley again gets another flick on the ball and it goes out for a corner. Eustace heads the resulting delivery away but a free kick is given.

56:00: Substitution Lansbury on for the injured Cowie. Lansbury is one of the players who have suffered with a virus

55:00: A dangerous cross from Gunnarsson is just about to reach McIndoe when Hodson does well to flick the ball clear. But from the resulting corner, Watford do not listen to Hodson's pleas to pick up Cork on the edge of the area. However, he shot is well wide

54:00: Bennett gives away a free kick wide on the left but Harley is able to flick Clingan's cross away from danger

53:00: Pawlettfan - in response to your question, the home support is pretty decent tonight. I thought it may have been a little bit quieter after the hype of Saturday but the home fans have been vocal. The away fans are trying to respond

52:00: Loach almost punches Bennett's head off after the centre back failed to listen to his call but the keeper gathers Clingan's 20 yard shot much more comfortably

51:00: The game is at the same high tempo but the execution is not as good so it has turned a little scrappy

47:00: Coventry go back on the attack but Best slips over as he tries to shoot and slices the ball wide

46:00: The second half starts as the first finished. Graham had a golden opportunity to make it three but he hit his volley comfortably over

45:00: Half time Watford could easily be three or four up after a pulsating first 45 minutes but with a virus going round the squad, do they have the energy to hold on?

45:00: Hoskins wins a free kick in the corner and the striker almost scored with a neat backheel at the front post but Westwood saves well

45:00: Great skill from Cleverley on the left beats Cork and Clarke but his cross misses everyone and Hoskins cross is glanced away

45:00: As McIndoe hobbles off the pitch, Graham and Westwood share a joke. No doubt Graham is wondering how he hasn't scored so far after a couple of excellent saves from Westwood

45:00: Two minutes of injury time added on

44:00: It should have been three. Eustace threw ball from the left back position sets Cowie off and he unselfishly squares for the free Graham but Westwood scrambles across the box and tips it wide for a corner, which is cleared after Eustace's flick on

42:00: A little skirmish between Loach and Morrison after the keeper comes and catches a high ball is quickly ended by ref Andre Marriner

41:00: Hodson's through ball was slightly too long for Graham to get on the end of it and Westwood gathers

39:00: A long ball from Cleverley is lobbed into the box by Hoskins and Cleverley somehow gets on the end of it but his volley is dragged wide.

37:00: Watford break with Hoskins and a perfectly weighted pass puts Graham in behind the defenders and although his shot is blocked, Hoskins gathers the rebound and smashes the ball past Westwood first time from 12 yards

37:00: Goal! Watford take the lead

36:00: Jon Harley is playing in the centre of midfield currently, with Cleverley on the left. Bit surprising but seems to be working

33:00: Lee Hodson looks superb again tonight. He keeps getting better. Looks like Doyley and Mariappa will have competition for the right back spot in the coming years.

32:00: Coventry have a corner but it was eventually cleared by Watford at the third time of asking

28:00: Yes sorry about the score. That was our fault. The game has been so manic I forgot to update it.

27:00: Great play from Watford. Hodson put Graham through on the right and the striker beat the offside trap to send in a delightful cross which is just headed away by Clarke before Cleverley arrived

23:00: Clever play from Graham sees him offside but he anticipates that Van Aanholt will play it back to the keeper and intercepts but his shot is saved by Westwood and Cowie's tocuh is heavy and the keeper gathers the ball

21:00: A cross from Cowie is not cleared by Coventry and Cleverley hits a left-footed volley into the ground and through the bodies to score

21:00: Goal! Watford equalise and its Cleverley

20:00: It is a very open and I would have said the Hornets were slightly on top, even before the goal

19:00: Watford win another corner when Coventry's Clarke heads backwards but Cleverley's superb delivery is missed by everyone

17:00: Hodson wins the ball and dribbles it from his own half deep into Coventry's. His cross is blocked but he wins a free kick when challenging for the ball. Cleverley sends a cross in but Eustace heads over

15:00: Watford respond by winning a corner from the restart but Cleverley heads Cowie's corner easily wide

14:00: A burst from Cork ends with him passing to Gunnarsson. His shot is blocked but it falls to Clingan, who dribbles a few yards before smashing the ball into the bottom corner from 25 yards

14:00: Goal! Goal for Coventry

8:00: A lovely pass from Eustace sees Cleverley run into the box from the left but Coventry put it out for a corner, which is cleared

6:00: A slick move from City cathces Doyley out of position and right back smashes a shot into the box but it is deflected out for a corner, which is headed towards goal but blocked before it reaches Loach and cleared by Mariappa

5:00: Lloyd Doyley gave away a free kick on the edge of the area and McIndoe's left foot shot into the far corner is parried away by Loach

3:00: Coventry's first attempt went to former Hornet Jack Cork. A thrown in catches Watford out and Gunnarsson's cross is headed comfortably over by Cork

2:00: And Hoskins almost scored for Watford from that corner. Cowie's delivery to the front post is flicked on by Graham and Hoskins fired over from six yards out

1:00: Watford have kicked off an won a corner immediately and almost scored from it. Tom Cleverley goes short with Don Cowie and Cleverley's shot cross is deflected just wide and over the top of the arriving John Eustace's head for another corner.

0:00: As for Coventry, they have also made three changes following their dramatic fightback to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Middlesbrough at the weekend. Marcus Hall and Ben Turner miss out with knee injuries, while Isaac Osbourne has been demoted to the bench. In come Elliott Ward, Patrick Van Aanholt and Aron Gunnarsson, while former Hornets loanee Jack Cork also starts. Team: Westwood; Clarke, Wright, Ward, Van Aanholt; Gunnarsson, Clingan, Cork; Morrison, Best, McIndoe.

0:00: It appears that Malky's team selection was forced, rather than the manager deciding to freshen things up. The squad has been a hit by a sickness bug which forced training to be cancelled this morning, but Cathcart and Jenkins are among those to be most severely affected.

0:00: The anticipated Watford line-up is: Loach; Hodson, Bennett, Mariappa, Doyley; Cowie, Cleverley, Eustace, Harley; Hoskins, Graham.

0:00: Confirmed line-ups to come but here's the Watford team news - and there are some surprises as Malky Mackay makes three changes from the side that drew at Reading on Saturday. Craig Cathcart and Ross Jenkins miss out completely, while Henri Lansbury drops to the bench. In come Dale Bennett, Jon Harley and Will Hoskins.

0:00: Good evening everyone and welcome to Vicarage Road on a surprisingly sticky night, considering it's the end of September. We'll bring you team news for tonight's clash between Watford and Coventry City as soon as we have it.