With this being another more local away game, the three SussexBaggies made our way to Watford, who themselves are fighting for survival in The Championship, with several questions running through our minds: would we be able to win and make sure of promotion? Would a draw be enough to guarantee an immediate return to the Premier League? Would it be the Albion way if we were to secure promotion at the first available opportunity?
As we were waiting outside the ground, the already large contingent of Albion supporters were shocked to see former England, and new Ivory Coast manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson turn up in a car outside the ground, presumably to watch our very own Abdoulaye Meite in action for the first time.
The Team
Roberto Di Matteo made three changes to the side with Gianni Zuiverloon, Giles Barnes and Roman Bednar replacing Steven Reid, James Morrison and Ishmael Miller. Despite these changes, we still lined up in our familiar 4-5-1 formation, with up to four of our midfielders able to support Bednar at any time.
First Half
With the stakes being so high as we started the game, it was no surprise to see Scott Carson forced into action twice inside the opening ten minutes. First, he had to be alert to smother an effort on goal after Chris Brunt was dispossessed before making an excellent save from a close-range Adrian Mariappa shot.
In truth we started slowly, with the terrible playing surface affecting our ability to get the ball down and play passing football. This gave the hosts an immediate advantage, as they had become used to playing on such a poor surface, whereas we are used to much easier surface to play on at The Hawthorns.
However, the pitch cannot be used as an excuse for the fact that our goal led a charmed life for much of the first half, with Tom Cleverley sending a free-kick just over the bar before Danny Graham had a goal-bound header blocked by a last-ditch lunge from Zuiverloon.
We finished the half without really creating a chance of note, although the atmosphere behind the goal was still outstanding, thanks partly to an appalling refereeing performance from Steve Tanner, who appeared to lose control of the game as we approached the interval.
Second Half
We started the second half with the bit between our teeth, as the fact that we could clinch promotion finally seemed to register with the players who had under-performed before the break, most notably Robert Koren, who was very poor after such a good performance on Friday night against Leicester City.
Our rhythm was disrupted, however, when Zuiverloon went off injured and was replaced by Meite, who will have impressed Eriksson with his composure on the ball and the solid partnership he immediately formed with Jonas Olsson in the heart of the defence, with Gabriel Tamas moving across to right-back.
Carson, who has picked a very good time to find his best form of the season, then did well to hold a powerful Mariappa strike.
The Albion supporters behind the goal were beginning to become quite agitated by the attempts of the Watford players to take any rhythm out of the game. In most cases, they did this by staying down after strong challenges, meaning that the physio had to come on several times.
We slowly started to find our feet, though, as Koren saw a goal-bound shot blocked, after good work on the edge of the area by Bednar.
Then followed a rather drab spell in the game, with the most eventful Albion-related incident being the withdrawal of the quiet Barnes, who was replaced by James Morrison.
An incident-packed few minutes then ensued, as Albion were forced into several last-ditch clearances after a ball into the box had caused confusion in the defence, before Watford left-back, Jon Harley, picked up a needless second booking for tugging Morrison’s shirt while the midfielder was still in his own half!
At this stage, most people would have expected the game to swing in our favour, but this is Albion and it was almost expected when Watford took the lead after 85 minutes.
The goal came courtesy of Graham, who sent an unstoppable right-foot volley from outside the area beyond Carson and into the bottom corner after being teed up by Don Cowie. The home supporters were understandably delighted, but I felt they enjoyed the moment a bit too much, which made what was to follow even more entertaining!
We could have equalised within three minutes of going behind, but Morrison somehow glanced his header from no more than six yards out just wide of the far post, following an excellent set-piece delivery from Chris Brunt.
Just as most supporters were resigned to a disappointing defeat, Brunt popped up with his most important goal of the season. The goal came in the fifth minute of time added on after the fourth official had indicated six minutes would be played. The previously ineffective substitute Andy Slory has to take some credit for the goal, as his looping header was met by Brunt at the far post, who nodded the ball past Scott Loach to start wild celebrations behind the goal.
Those supporters who were getting ready to leave, including my younger brother, who was using the toilet as Brunt scored, will now probably feel very disappointed that they missed out on such an important goal.
On Reflection
Watford deserved something from this game, so I don’t think any of us can begrudge them a point. They worked hard and adapted to the incredibly poor playing surface much better than we did.
Our passing was poor but, as I mentioned earlier, this could have been more to do with the pitch than anything else. We struggled to find any sort of rhythm during the game and I genuinely thought the game was going to finish 0-0 until the late drama that made sure supporters were left on the edge of their seats right up until the final whistle.
My Man-of-the-Match was Scott Carson. Once again, he made two or three very good saves to keep us in the game and his handling was also superb throughout the 96 minutes. His distribution, with the exception of one kick, was excellent and he seems to have found form at just the right time. Other impressive performances came from Jonas Olsson and Chris Brunt.
So, the champagne is on ice for the time being, but surely it is only a matter of time before we secure an immediate return to the Premier League?
Boing Boing!