Watford - 2 (Hyde 6, Mooney 52)
Crystal Palace - 1 (McKenzie 87.)

This was a "must win" match for our London opponents, Watford, and they nearly made a mess of it! They really needed this game to keep alive their faint hopes of a promotion playoff position, but they still need Wolves to slip up, though Bolton could do the same. It really was their game, and but for a good performance by Kevin Miller they would have had this game sealed long before the finish. That they did not was great credit to our side.

The first half saw play all going in one direction - towards our goal. Very early in the game Micah Hyde sent in a cross which was aimed towards Guy Whittingham, but Sun Jihai managed to get the faintest of deflections on to the ball. Though Miller had the position well covered the deflection wrong footed him, and suddenly we were one goal down, the only consolation being that the goal was credited to Hyde and not Sun. The rest of the first period of play was all the Kevin Miller show. Tommy Mooney met a pass only 10 yards out, but Kevin did well to keep the ball out. As the game progressed Kevin did spill one more ball, but the defence was on hand to save the day. A great drive by Peter Kennedy seemed destined for the back of the net, but again Kevin produced a blinding save, tipping the ball just over the bar.

Those drinks that they give the players at half time must have something in them!

The game changed, and really we should have been back on level terms following two good chances presented to Clinton Morrison. The trouble was their defenders managed to get in the way of both shots. 52 minutes suddenly saw the game, realistically, slip away from the Eagles when Kennedy fired in a cross from a free kick, and Mooney was on hand to simply put the ball beyond Kevin's reach. 2-0 down, and it was now only a matter of one more goal needed for Watford to take over 6th place above Wolves.

A number of chances were presented to the home side to achieve just this. Michel Ngonge missed a chance that he really should have done better with, and then Kevin made yet another great save to deny Mooney latching on to a Hyde cross. Yet another chance fell to Hyde, the shot being cleared off the line, and it looked as though the home team would eventually get that elusive extra goal. Time was running out though, and suddenly Palace had other ideas about the match. A corner taken by Dean Austin was met by Morrison, who cleverly headed the ball into the path of the advancing Leon McKenzie. Leon made no mistake in scoring his first senior goal of the season, and suddenly the roles had been reversed. It was now Watford that was clearly hanging on for the whistle. Four minutes or so of time added on did not really help their cause!

The final whistle did eventually sound before we could find an equaliser, though Steve Coppell could well rue the last minute penalty appeal that was turned down. In fairness to Watford a point would have been unfair reward for their endeavour, but then again funny things happen in this game!

Two games left in the season - here's hoping that we acquit ourselves well.

Colin Pryce

Watford: Alec Chamberlain, Darren Bazeley, Peter Kennedy, Robert Page, Steve Palmer, Paul Robinson, Guy Whittingham (Michel Ngonge 45), Micah Hyde, Tommy Mooney, Richard Johnson, Nick Wright (Tommy Smith 79).
Not Used: Alon Hazan.

Crystal Palace: Kevin Miller, Sun Jihai (Wayne Carlisle 45), Gordan Petric (Andrew Frampton 6), Dean Austin, David Woozley, Steve Thomson (Gareth Graham 77), Craig Foster, Fan Zhiyi, Leon McKenzie, Clinton Morrison, Hayden Mullins.
Not Used: None.

Attendance: 15,590
Referee: Mr E Lomas (Manchester).