Watford - 3 (Ardley 28. Hyde 40. Helguson 47.)
Crystal Palace - 3 (Mullins 24. 45. Granville 41.)

It is not often that you can go away from home, score three goals, and still come away with only one point to show for your efforts. Of course, if your name is Crystal Palace Football Club, this type of result is about average for a midweek fixture. In fact, for any fixture! At least this performance was much better than that shown last year, when we failed to score a goal either home or away, though one would not want to put too much hard earned cash on the side winning the home fixture, due to be played on 8 March. By that point in the season the fortunes of both sides will be a lot clearer, but for the time being we will settle for the point, and the goal feast that came our way. I wonder how we can get our "rock solid" defence back?

A quick forward move by Palace following the kick-off nearly caught Watford by surprise, but Paul Robinson brought Andy Johnson down to stop the move, and got an immediate yellow card for his trouble. The ensuing free kick was taken by Danny Granville, but the Watford defence was equal to the task, clearing the ball from the danger area. Wayne Routledge tackled Robinson heading in the opposite direction, and another yellow card was brandished, this time to our young defender. Two yellows in three minutes - at this rate there could be few players left on the field by the time we get to 90 minutes!

A foul by AJ on Micah Hyde brought about a free kick only 30 yards out from goal. A thumping shot from Allan Nielsen fortunately went well over the top, and Hayden Mullins grabbed the third yellow card of the game for a late tackle before Dougie Freedman forced the defence into conceding a corner.

The corner yielded no result for Palace, and as the ball flew down the other end Heidar Helguson saw his shot well saved by Alex Kolinko, even though the flag was up for offside and would not have counted had it gone into the net. Tony Popovic was pinged for a tackle on Helguson, who went down in the area, and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Danny Webber stepped up, took the kick, and the ball hit the bar - and the Palace faithful breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Wayne got a free kick awarded, which was hit in by Danny G, unfortunately straight at the keeper. Alex was then called on again to save the day, this time advancing on Helguson to deny him a decent shot on goal. Wayne won another corner that Darren Powell fired goalwards, but a deflection sent the ball behind for another corner. This one came in and was headed behind by the defence for yet another corner, which this time was merely cleared away for a Palace throw.

At the other end Nielsen was caught by the offside trap, and a quick ball upfield by Danny Butterfield found Dougie in front of goal. His shot was poor, but it bounced nicely for Hayden who fired the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring for the match. Another corner for Palace saw Alec Chamberlain save well, and then a good bit of play by Wayne saw him beat two defenders and fire in a great cross that was put behind for yet another corner. Once again the keeper was equal to the task, and as the ball raced up the other end Steve Thomson was penalised for a foul on Hyde. Neal Ardley fired the ball in towards goal, and despite a spectacular dive by Alex the ball sailed into the top corner of the net to make the scoreline equal.

Wayne made another good run, outwitting the defence, but his shot went wide of the mark. Tony was then hurt in a tackle, and though he recovered it was not in time to prevent Hyde from scoring a goal by lifting the ball over an advancing Alex, and suddenly we were 2-1 down. A free kick to Palace saw Curtis Fleming push the ball through to Wayne, and his cross was headed behind for yet another corner. This was getting somewhat repetitious.

The ball came in, and this time it was Danny G who simply headed the ball home, and once again the scores were level. That must have taken all of two minutes from the last goal being scored. Stops by the keepers at both ends kept the status quo before Nielsen fired the ball wide of the post. Three minutes of time was added to the first half. Danny B and Dougie combined well to set up Hayden once more, and he made no mistake firing the ball under the keeper to restore our original lead, but this time the scoreline read 3-2.

Goodness knows what was said moments later when the halftime whistle sounded.

Palace kicked off the second half, and a good take by Chamberlain denied Dougie getting a shot on goal. Webber then fired in a cross at the other end that Helguson got a head to, and once again the ball flew past Alex, and the sixth goal of the match was in the back of the net. Once more the scores were level. A free kick saw Danny B fire a shot in that the keeper dealt with quite easily, and Neil Cox earned the next yellow card for a foul on AJ.

Free kicks continued almost minute to minute, and one of them saw Danny G's shot blocked and another go wide of the post. The next move forward came from Palace with AJ sending in a cross that Danny B fired goalwards, the keeper tipping the ball over the top at the last moment. The corner came in, but though Hayden got a shot in the ball was deflected, and went simply to the waiting keeper. A free kick to Watford saw a tame shot from Ardley, which was easily held by Alex. Palace conceded a corner, but a resolute defence cleared the danger, and as the ball flew up the other end Dougie was on hand to force Lloyd Doyley into an error that conceded yet another corner at Watford's end.

Although that corner led to no joy for Palace the next was almost the goal to seal the match. Danny G took the kick, passed the ball to Dougie who turned it over neatly to AJ whose header hit the bar and went back into the field of play. Webber then got clear, and his pass to Ardley really deserved better than seeing the ball float behind for a Palace goal kick.

Danny B tried to play the ball through to Wayne, but this time the keeper was well aware of proceedings, and he came out and saved the situation. This brought about the first substitution of the game, and a very popular return to action it was for Julian Gray, coming on to replace Curtis. Darren played well to take the ball off the feet of Webber, who was lining up his shot on goal, and then a cross in from Ardley was well taken by Alex, showing a little more confidence in goal. Julian then got a cross in that just failed to find AJ, who was lurking in the area once again, but a free kick saw Palace force yet another corner. This was cleared by Watford, and the game went on.

Watford made their first substitution, bringing Anthony McNamee on for Jamie Hand. Wayne then managed to beat his defender, but the referee blew the whistle once again for a foul. Where a wiser head might have accepted the decision the petulance of youth caused him to argue the decision with the official. That is an argument that no player is ever going to win, and simply caused the referee to brandish yet another yellow card. The complication for Wayne was that this made the two yellows he received turn into an automatic red, and he was duly sent off for an early bath. As much as anyone might argue against the decision (and thoughts from both sides of the field did come thick and fast after the game), the decision still stands, and Wayne will now miss the Stoke City game in a couple of weeks. This brought an immediate defensive substitution from Trevor, taking off Dougie and bringing on Dean Austin, followed shortly after by replacing AJ with Dele Adebola.

A free kick for the home team led to a corner, but this was poorly played, the ball coming off Nielsen and bouncing safely away for a goal kick to Palace. Steve saw a shot blocked, and a second substitution came from Watford, Helguson giving way to Marcus Gayle. Dele got a pass in to Steve, but his shot went wide of the mark, and whilst the home fans breathed a sigh of relief the Palace faithful rued an opportunity lost. Gayle was caught offside, and the 4th official signified four minutes of added on time. Four minutes left for Palace to hang on for a hard earned point.

Webber got a shot on goal, but once again the ball went wide, and at the other end Julian let the ball run out of play resulting in a goal kick. The long punt forward from Watford saw Tony rise to head the ball away, and with yet another offside ruling against the home team the final whistle sounded, and Palace left with a creditable draw. Now we look forward to the trip to Hillsborough on Wednesday night.

Colin Pryce

Watford: Alec Chamberlain, Neil Cox, Sean Dyche, Paul Robinson, Neal Ardley, Lloyd Doyley, Jamie Hand (Anthony McNamee 74), Micah Hyde, Allan Nielsen, Heidar Helguson (Marcus Gayle 84), Danny Webber.

Substitutes not used: Richard Lee, Stephen Glass, Dominic Foley.

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Curtis Fleming (Julian Gray 69), Danny Granville, Hayden Mullins, Tony Popovic, Darren Powell, Danny Butterfield, Steve Thomson, Dougie Freedman (Dean Austin 79), Andrew Johnson (Dele Adebola 81), Wayne Routledge.

Substitutes not used: Lance Cronin, Tommy Black.

Attendance: 12,153

Referee: Mr A Hall (West Midlands)