Watford - 2 (Nielsen 82. Mooney 83.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Austin 15. Black 90.)
After playing predominantly with three strikers of late Alan Smith completely changed the lineup by dropping both Mikael Forssell and Dougie Freedman to the bench, starting with Clinton Morrison and Ricardo Fuller up front. Ricardo had a very impressive full debut, and though threatening, Clinton seems to have forgotten how to score. Let's hope the knack quickly comes back to him, Palace sorely need his strikepower!
In the first couple of minutes of this match Ricardo put Clinton through on goal, only to find the flag up indicating offside. Simon Rodger then put a great cross into the centre, but somehow both David Hopkin and Hayden Mullins managed to miss the ball.
Ricardo then failed to strike the ball cleanly and Clinton was dispossessed when about to strike, and all this had happened in the first five minutes. A neutral observer would have thought that it was Palace looking for the promotion playoff position, not Watford.
Finally after about 11 minutes play the home team managed to get clear on goal, but Tommy Smith found the ball out of his reach, and Alex Kolinko easily controlled the situation. Nordin Wooter then went on a good run, but his passing left a lot to be desired.
With almost a quarter of an hour gone Watford were lucky that once again the offside flag saved them, for if not the 20 yard shot that David was lining up would surely have found the back of the net. We were not to be denied much longer though, and within the minute Ricardo was hauled down in the box. Though most blame skipper Robert Page it is certain that Darren Ward was involved in there somewhere. Our own skipper, Dean Austin, who has suddenly become our most prolific striker, having scored the last three Palace goals, quickly dispatched the resulting penalty.
Palace then conceded a free kick just outside the area when Gifton Noel-Williams was brought down, but fortunately the shot from Steve Palmer was pushed away for a corner. Almost immediately Palace won a corner at the other end, this time the header was sent in by Aki Riihilahti, but his tame shot went straight to the keeper.
In end-to-end stuff a corner then went to the home side, but the Palace defence was more than equal to the task. Ricardo was still causing problems for the home side, but then Matthew Upson fouled the attacking Watford player a mere 30 yards out, the resulting free kick once again causing no panic for the Palace defence. We were certainly gaining in confidence.
Fan Zhiyi struck a free kick goalwards, but once again the keeper was equal to the task, then Hayden managed to head a cross over the bar. Ricardo shot wide before the half time whistle sounded, and as the sides marched off the 2,000 or so Palace travelling supporters cheered the performance of their side for a job well done. Surely the game would be killed off if we could just get a second strike on goal.
It nearly came within seconds of the restart, when a long throw found Ricardo, and though he could not get his strike on goal Clinton was on hand to make the attempt. The ball came off a defender, and a good chance had gone to waste. A corner for Watford followed this, but Alex dealt well with the ball and set up yet another raid on the home side's defences.
A bit of midfield play followed, then a corner to Palace, but somehow the defence got the ball back out of the area. Next up was David with a good long-range effort that whistled past the post, and then Ricardo placed his shot agonisingly wide of the same post. Aki then got booked for a tackle on Paul Robinson; the ref must need glasses if he thought that was a "bookable" offence.
Micah Hyde then took a shot from long range on goal, but he was slightly out on the elevation, being about 30 yards too high. A corner followed shortly after, and with little fanfare Allan Nielsen poked the ball in the back of the net to level the scores. Just how it happened is probably a mystery to all that were at the ground, but from a team that were hopelessly outclassed somehow Watford had now managed to thwart us at seemingly the last moment.
To make matters worse within the minute Page cracked the ball into the back of the net once again to register Watford's second of the afternoon, and suddenly from cruising home we were now behind. Perhaps there is no justice in this game we call football.
A double substitution was made by Alan, the front two of Clinton and Ricardo being replaced by Dougie Freedman and Mikael Forssell. When one considers how long it may take even just one player to bed himself into the match I cannot, for the life of me, work out why Alan makes these types of substitutions all the time.
A free kick taken by David came to naught, and it was now looking as if we were going to go home with nothing from the game, after leading it so comfortably for so long. A final chance corner came to Palace, but Dean put his header wide, with a little help from the keeper. Tommy Black met the corner from the opposite side, and after taking a couple of deflections the ball buried itself sweetly in the back of the net. Once again we were on level terms, and even the most ardent Watford fan will tell you that we deserved no less.
With no time left to play, we still managed to get the ball up the other end, and if only Dougie had managed to stay onside before putting the ball in the back of the net we would have pulled off an amazing comeback.
As it was we had to settle for a point, and most will view this as two points lost rather than a point gained. Of course we may well be pleased with the point come the end of the season, but with the other relegation threatened teams all doing well on the day we now find ourselves in the zone with only six matches to play.
If you had offered most Palace supporters a point before the match started they would, most likely, have taken it. The last six games now all represent our own "cup finals", and each and every one of them should be a close fought thing. We certainly need to find a way to garner a few more points than some of those around us.
Colin Pryce
Watford: Espen Baardsen, Neil Cox (Paolo Vernazza 63), Paul Robinson, Robert Page, Steve Palmer, Tommy Mooney, Nordin Wooter (Micah Hyde 45), Gifton Noel-Williams, Tommy Smith, Darren Ward, Allan Nielsen.
Substitutes not used: Alec Chamberlain, Allan Smart, Heidar Helguson.
Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Matthew Upson, Dean Austin, Fan Zhiyi, Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger (Tommy Black 49), Clinton Morrison (Dougie Freedman 81), Craig Harrison, Ricardo Fuller (Mikael Forssell 81), David Hopkin, Aki Riihilahti.
Substitutes not used: Gregg Berhalter, Kenny Verhoenen.
Attendance: 15,599
Referee: Mr S Mathieson (Stockport)