Watford Match Report

On a cold day in Watford, Crewe were outclassed by a Watford side who looked full of confidence. After a tube journey which involved more changes than misplaced Kenny Lunt free kicks, I ambled towards Watford town centre, hurried by the biting wind. I eventually met up with some mates, though only after a series of misguided instructions as to their whereabouts, and settled down to watch Cheltenham v Newcastle. ‘Mac’s Pub’ was the setting, situated about 5 minutes from the ground. John Ford’s cohort of fans soon arrived livening up the atmosphere though it was soon time to stroll down to the ground. The stadium hasn’t changed one bit since last year, neither has the feeling in and around the ground. Vicarage Road is a fairly quaint residence for the high flying club, though Crewe started brightly.

With an unchanged side, Crewe seized the initiative early on looking bright and purposeful. We were defending resolutely and working fairly hard in the midfield, with Gary Roberts once again exemplifying the hard-working type of player Crewe fans crave. The early promise so nearly payed off after 14 minutes as Steve Jones latched onto a ball over the top. Kenny Lunt sprayed a pass diagonally over Watford’s remarkably high line with the pace of Steve Jones picking the ball up near the corner flag to the keeper’s right. Jonah proceeded to cut inside Jordan Stewart who had chased back, before unleashing a super shot past Alec Chamberlain, only to be thwarted by Matthew Spring. Spring came from nowhere to throw himself at the ball, which consequently ricocheted off the underside of the bar and away. However, just four minutes later Crewe were made to pay. Ashley Young won the ball for Watford before Henderson found Spring, who struck from 30-yards across the goal into Turnbull’s bottom right hand corner to make it 1-0.

Crewe players were seemingly dejected and Watford took full advantage. Just eight minutes later, Spring was to score his 3rd goal in the last two games. Spring attempted another long range effort, which deflected and fell to Henderson who only had Turnbull to beat. The shot, however, was straight at Turnbull whose parry fell to Doyley. With a Crewe player yet to react, Doyley scuffed his shot which fell straight to Spring whose shot was on course to be cleared off the line by Foster. However, Turnbull got a touch which took it past Foster making it 2-0. Watford coasted through the rest of the half as Crewe struggled to settle after Spring’s goals.

Turnbull went off with a reported tight hamstring at half time, and was replaced by Stuart Tomlinson. Watford continued to dictate the game though Boothroyd replaced Henderson with Bouazza 10 minutes into the second half. The striker gave Watford a renewed sense of urgency and just four minutes later it was 3-0. Chris Eagles, who Crewe were offered on loan in the summer, headed on a goal kick, Marlon King ran onto the ball and placed a powerful shot across Tomlinson into his right hand corner. It was an excellent finish but once again Crewe were caught ball watching. Chamberlain’s goal kick caused Crewe problems once again just four minutes later as Darren Moss inadvertantly flicked the ball into the path of Eagles, who crossed to Young who couldn’t miss from within the 6 yard box.

Watford once again relaxed, whilst continuing to dictate the game, as Crewe lacked desire. Dario eventually changed things around with just over 10 minutes to go. The two Lukes were introduced in quick succession replacing Gareth Taylor and Gary Roberts and they certainly made a difference. Despite the blistering pace of Rodgers, Varney and Jones up front for Crewe, Watford continued to play a very high line allowing us to expose them with passes over the top. Just two minutes after the introduction of Rodgers, a ball over the top found Billy Jones who managed to pull it back for the grateful Luke Rodgers to find the net. Crewe’s energetic front three continued to hustle and bustle but to no avail leaving Watford to celebrate an emphatic victory.

With Kenny Lunt having reverted into central midfield of late once again, comparisons may be drawn between this time last year. Lunty had been playing on the right during our ‘good run’ before Ashton left last year, with Bell and Sorvel complimenting each other in the centre. However, Lunt was allowed to come into his preferred central midfield position costing the team dearly defensively as other teams could dominate the central areas. Whilst we haven’t endured a ‘good run’ this season, we had managed to stay outside of the relegation zone until Lunty was brought into central midfield once again. Yesterday highlighted why we cannot afford to play Lunt in such a key area, and if we are to stand any chance of staying up, Dario will need to play Lunt on the right again.

Player Ratings

Ross Turnbull 5
Turnbull had another poor game and whilst it would be harsh to blame him alone for the goals, they were the sort of saves Clayton Ince was pulling off when we needed him to.

Jon Otsemobor 6
‘Semmy’ didn’t really contribute much. Perhaps concentrating more on the defensive side of his game, Otsemobor wasn’t as impressive as he was against Plymouth.

Richard Walker 7
Probably Crewe’s best defender on the day. Walker won more than his fair share of headers and attempted to organise those around him.

Steve Foster 6
An erratic performance from the centre back. This performance typified Foz’s season as he made one or two good tackles, but looked uneasy for the majority of the game.

Darren Moss 5
Mossy was largely at fault for Young’s goal, and perhaps a season in League One will do him some good.

Gary Roberts 6
Tried hard but had little impact

Billy Jones 8
Crewe’s best player was doing much of the defending on his own for large parts. Other than Billy, only Richard Walker contributed significantly defensively. Billy is looking certain to be our player of the season.

Kenny Lunt 6
Whilst Kenny did some good things, his performance will be remembered for the fact that every single free kick of his found the keeper’s arms.

David Vaughan 6
Showed promise at times, but relative to the form we know he is capable of, it was another disappointing performance.

Gareth Taylor 5
Possibly Crewe’s worst player on the day. Taylor’s workrate was poor, and he showed no off the ball movement or any suggestion that he might get a goal. Last week his all round team contribution dragged his performance up, but even that was lacking yesterday.

Steve Jones 7
A livewire going forward. Jonah worked hard and made some excellent runs off the ball and continues to demonstrate to others how to play off the shoulder.

Stuart Tomlinson 5
Tommo never really made a save and made a hash of an attempted clearance which could have been costly. He tried to gather crosses, and did once or twice, though only after a fumble or two.

Luke Varney 6
Only had 10 minutes but barely did anything in that time. He did, however, try to get in some good positions and looked as if he was taking instructions on board.
Impressive. Despite giving the ball away when making simple passes, Luke continued to work hard and looked like a player who really wanted to start next week. He deserved his goal and if Neil Baker gets his way, he will start next week.