Bradford survive

Saturday 23rd December.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to see Huddersfield win away! I love going to away matches around this festive time of year and being able to sing this little song, and joy of joys we had ample opportunity to partake in this particular rendition.

I thought that the traffic might be heavy so we set off at about 10 o’clock but had a decent run down the M1, although a long wait to meet my sister meant that in the end we only arrived at about 2.50 (10 minutes before my usual arrival time!). It was cold and slightly foggy but the stand behind the goal gave a decent view for the 500 or so Town fans and although we were only given half of it there were plenty of spare seats.

I was pleased to see that Lou Macari didn’t tamper with the defence, and left Kevin Gray and Jon Dyson as the centre backs, Chris Lucketti and Adie Moses taking their places on the bench. Delroy Facey was given a start alongside Kevin Gallen, with Ndlovu playing a role on the wide left in the absence of Ben Thornley who didn’t even appear in the 16 (late injury maybe?). From the moment that the game began you could see that Town were really up for this one with a few strong early challenges seeming to unsettle the home side and the new attacking with their speed and strong running looked to give Town an extra dimension that seemed to worry the home defenders.

Barely a minute had past when Delroy Facey spurned an excellent scoring chance, and as Town dominated the game Kevin Gallen had a shot saved on the line by keeper Espen Baardsen. This was excellent stuff to keep out the cold and you would never had guessed which team was in the relegation places, and which was still in the play off hunt. Town played with the fluency and determination missing from so many early season games and received their reward as the half hour approached.

With Town on the attack once again, the ball was played back into the Watford penalty area where the lurking Ndlovu neatly tucked the ball away past the helpless Espen Baardsen. This was no less than we deserved having outplayed a very ordinary looking Watford side, and it lifted the vocal support of the Town fans. Why is it when Town travel away the vocal support is second to none, but at home many people sit there like dummies from Burtons window. I have been to a number of away games that bristle with excitement, only to return to the McAlpine for the next game to experience a really turgid atmosphere.

Regrettably, Town’s lead was short lived (5 minutes to be exact) and like the reverse fixture at the McAlpine the visiting side scored an own goal. A fairly harmless ball was headed back towards goal by Thomas Heary, but unfortunately for the first time this millennium Nico Vaesen had come off his line to meet it and it ended up in the back of the net. Granted, when you head the ball back to your own keeper you should aim away from the goal, but I feel that Nico must take a large part of the blame as he has made a habit of being rooted to his line recently. Heary expected him to be in his usual place, and quite simply – he wasn’t. The goal was tough on Town who had done more than enough to be winning the game and when the half time whistle blew we felt as though we had been robbed.

Watford looked livelier as the second began but Town continued to work very hard with Kevin Gray absolutely solid at the back giving ex-Oxford striker Tommy Mooney precious few opportunities and the dangerous Neilsen also hardly got a look in. On the hour mark, Town restored their lead as Delroy Facey justified his inclusion in the starting 11.

A hopeful ball played out of defence was chased by Delroy who worried the Watford defender into a mistake allowing the Town striker to dispossess him, he advanced into the area and unleashed a powerful right footed shot into the back of the net. Once again it was time for the visiting fans to burst into song as an unexpected 3 point haul looked possible and the Hornets seemed to be stung (sorry I had to use this pun) into more action, and Town had to defend resolutely to maintain their lead.

There were some rather frantic moments in front of our goal and at least one of which had the greater danger posed by our own defenders. As the final whistle neared the pressure seemed to reach a crescendo and it was simply a question of throwing bodies in front of the ball at times in a bid to maintain the lead. Having thrown the lead away once, there was no way they were going to do it again and the back line held firm (somehow). The first half performance alone should have been enough to put the game out of sight, but at the end of the day 3 points were earned through sheer hard work and to hear a Watford fan ringing someone on his mobile saying “we lost 2-1 and we were crap” was very satisfying indeed as you head off for the long journey home.

There were two interesting aspects of today’s game. Firstly the eleven Town players who were on the pitch at 3 o’clock were the same eleven who left the pitch at the end of the game. I cannot remember the last time that the performance was such that the team didn’t need tweaking at some stage of the game, and it is also unheard of this season not to pick up any injuries during the match. Secondly, referees are meant to be neutral (aren’t they?), and while the man in black didn’t have a bad game, I’m curious to know why an official from Hertfordshire refereed a game in the same county.

Anyway, the important thing is that we have managed to pick up 7 points (it could have been 9) from this awful looking run of three away games, and whilst it only took us up one place, just 6 points separates the entire bottom half of the division. It would be difficult to pick out three sides who might go down, but one or two teams seem to be on the slide at the moment. Tranmere, Crewe and Stockport are struggling for form and Sheffield Wednesday are still perilously close to being in the mire. With two home games now against fellow strugglers, we can give our survival prospects a real lift with a couple more victories. Roll on Boxing Day!

Watford 1 (Heary 34 (o.g)) TOWN 2 (Ndlovu 29 Facey 60) Position in table – 23rd Town – Vaesen; Vincent; Gray; Dyson; Heary; Armstrong; Baldry; Holland; Gallen; Facey; Ndlovu. Subs not used – Margetson; Lucketti; Irons; Sellars; Moses. Watford – Baardsen; Cox; Robinson; Palmer (S); Kennedy (Armstrong 46); Palmer (C) (Smith 82); Mooney; Smart (Helguson 64); Ward; Vernazza; Nielsen. Subs not used – Chamberlain; Hyde. Referee – Keith Hill (Herts.). Attendance 13,371

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