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

Watford vs Derby County

• Kick off: 3:00pm Sat 12 Dec 09
• Referee: Keith Stroud
• Venue: Vicarage Road

Final score:

Watford 0 - 1 Derby County

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95:00: A poor display from Watford but Derby were arguably worse. Arguably the worse Watford have played for some time

95:00: Final whistle Unbelieveable decision from the ref to award Derby a free kick all but ends Watford's hopes of winning. Davies then beats Severin in the corner and when his cross is cut out by Mariappa, the ref blew the whistle

92:00: Eustace again with the chance to score. The midfielder was alone in the box when the ball fell to him but his touch was poor and in the end his tame effort trickled wide

91:00: Substitution Henderson for Cowie

87:00: The ball is headed to Cowie on the edge of the area but his volley went miles over the bar

81:00: Eustace, who scored in this fixture last season for Derby, had a great chance to score when he controlled the ball eight yards out but he put it over the bar. Should have scored

79:00: Substitution Harley and Graham off and Severin and Ellington have come on

79:00: Substitution Hendrie off for Teale

77:00: Goal! A Hendrie free kick to the far post is headed in by Porter

76:00: Yellow card Porter is brought down by Mariappa and the centre back is booked

71:00: Cleverley creates space on the edge of the box and his curling shot needed to be parried wide by Bywater

69:00: Hodson cross is headed over by a combination of Graham and Connolly

68:00: Substitution Davies for Dickov

63:00: Substitution Campbell off,Porter on

60:00: A stale attack from Watford is livened up by Doyley beating his man annd passing to Harley, whose cross is in the right area but headed clear

58:00: Mariappa is caught the wrong side of Campbell and the striker would have had a good chance of scoring had DeMerit not made a well-timed last ditch tackle

54:00: Moxey's low delivery across the goalmouth is not connected with by anyone but a worrying moment for Watford

52:00: Harley is brought down 30 yards out and Cleverley's shot is straight at Bywater

51:00: Yellow card Moxey booked as he stops Graham from bursting through

50:00: Watford fail to clear a Derby cross and Campbell's is put off as he shot from ten yards and it goes over

47:00: Derby win a free kick 25 yards out but nothing comes of it

46:00: The second half has begun and straight away Helguson is brought down 20 yards out but the ref said no foul

45:00: Cleverley's free kick is headed wide by Helguson but somehow the ref awards a corner and then Helguson's volley is heading for the far corner when Bywater palms it wide but he awards a goal kick

45:00: Derby should be down to ten men after Pearson went in late on Cleverley and the ref played on but did not go back to hand him his second yellow

44:00: Harley crosses deep and Helguson's header back into the area causes chaos but Graham is unable to reach the ball after it is deflected into his path

42:00: Yellow card Cleverley fouls Savage and is rightly booked

40:00: The game has been halted for a couple of minutes after Hendrie injured his leg in a challenge with Eustace

39:00: Yellow card Eustace booked for foul on Hendrie

37:00: Helgusons tries to slip Graham in but he is unable to get there in time and the ball is cleared

36:00: Yellow card Pearson is booked for decent

35:00: The first real save of the game on 35 minutes. Mariappa's poor control and DeMerit's failure to clear saw Campbell fire in a shot at the near post from 20 yards and Loach had to parry out for a corner. The ball was initially cleared but then a scramble in the box ended with a free kick

30:00: Cowie has ages to shape for a shot from 25 yards but still manages to hit it well wide

28:00: Watford concede a free kick 25 yards out and Savage's delivery is headed clear by Doyley and Harley clears up

25:00: A Savage free kick is put into a great area but Loach is commanding and punch's the ball 30 yards

24:00: A Helguson flick on is slightly too far in front of Graham and Bywater is able to dive on the ball

23:00: The first real good piece of play from either side sees Cowie deliver a dangerous cross but it is headed clear just as Helguson was set to make contact

22:00: Dickov's cross is too close to Loach and easily gathered by the keeper

21:00: Harley wins a free kick 20 yards out on the corner of the area. It is swung in by Cowie but it doesn't beat the first man and is headed clear

19:00: Yellow card Jon Harley is booked for a foul on Savage. I believe he is now one away from suspension

17:00: A Robbie Savage free kick is headed over by Connolly

12:00: Bywater scuffs his kick straight to Graham 40 yards out and he controls the ball and volleys it goalwards and misses the goal by two yards

9:00: Graham has gone off the pitch due to injury but looks set to come back on

8:00: The first chance of the match fell to Derby. A flick on resulted in Hendrie being free in the box eight yards out and he was able to compose himself and shoot but Hodson managed to get the block in on time

0:00: The game has kicked off, with Watford shooting from left to right

0:00: Watford skipper Jay DeMerit makes his first start since August as Malky Mackay makes two changes for this afternoon’s clash with Derby County at Vicarage Road. The skipper, who came on at half-time during Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers, keeps his place as Craig Cathcart has failed to shake off a knee injury. The other change sees Heidar Helguson, as expected, return in place of Nathan Ellington, but Henri Lansbury is not fit enough to feature and so Jon Harley keeps his place on the left side of midfield. Nigel Clough, meanwhile, makes just the one change – Fredrik Stoor replacing Dean Leacock in defence - as his side bid to halt the worst away record in the Championship. Although the Rams held Preston North End to a 0-0 home draw in mid-week, that was just the third point Clough’s side have picked up from a possible 30 on their travels this term. Furthermore, Derby have scored just five away goals. Watford: Loach; Hodson, DeMerit, Mariappa, Doyley; Cowie, Eustace, Cleverley, Harley; Graham, Helguson. Substitutes: Severin, Lee, Hoskins, Henderson, Ellington, Sadler, Bryan. Derby County: Bywater; Connolly, McEveley, Stoor, Moxey; Green, Savage, Pearson, Hendrie; Dickov, Campbell. Substitutes: Croft, Teale, Porter, Deeney, Buxton, Davies, Livermore.