Watford 1 - 1 Bournemouth Match Report.
Craig Cathcart marked his second debut as a Watford player in style, as he fired home a fantastic volley to secure a draw for the Hornets against Bournemouth yesterday in the Sky Bet Championship’s early kick off. The golden boys weren’t at their best yesterday and the absence of Troy Deeney didn’t help matters, but Cathcart’s crisp volley in the 83rd minute secured a point for Watford. Matej Vydra and Odion Ighalo had late chances to seal an unjust victory but in all honesty the Hornets were lucky to come away with one point.
Assistant manager Ruben Martinez led the side again after Oscar Garcia was kept in hospital and he made three changes to the side that beat Blackpool on Tuesday night. Two of these changes were enforced with Troy Deeney and Gabriele Angella ruled out through injury so Lloyd Dyer and Gabriel Tamas took their places. Lewis McGugan dropped to the bench and Sean Murray came in to make his first league start of the season. Goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes captained the side in Deeney’s absence.
Eddie Howe also made three changes with new loan signing Artur Boruc starting in goal whilst Junior Stanislas and Eunan O’Kane replaced Ryan Fraser and Yann Kermorgant.
Bournemouth started much brighter than the Hornets and Matt Ritchie sent a low effort wide of Gomes goal in the opening minute.
Three minutes later and the Cherries were gifted an opportunity to go ahead after some poor defending from Tamas. There didn’t seem to be too much danger when Matt Ritchie played a hopeful ball forward and it seemed like Tamas would be able to comfortably deal with the pressure from Bournemouth’s Wilson who gave chase. However, the Romanian was easily out muscled by the Bournemouth striker who charged towards goal and was cynically brought down by Tamas. It was a blatant penalty and referee Oliver Langford instantly pointed to the spot. This was to be the start of a poor afternoon for Watford’s Tamas who was lucky to escape without a booking or a red card. Set piece specialist Ian Harte stepped up for Bournemouth but the Irish defender’s low penalty went wide of Gomes post.
It was a huge let off for the Golden Boys but they didn’t learn and in the 13th minute, Bournemouth had another opportunity. Again Tamas was at the forefront of the Hornets poor defending in the opening stages and the Romanian needlessly gave the ball away. He then went sliding in on Ritchie and completely missed the ball and player as Bournemouth’s attack strengthened. Callum Wilsons cross was toe poked away by Ekstrand before Tamas tried to hoof the ball up field but missed his kicked. Ekstrand finally blocked the shot.
Immediately, the Hornets went on the counter attack with Pudil bringing the ball away before releasing Dyer down the wing. The former Leicester man’s brilliant cross was inches away from being met by Vydra at the far post.
In the 23rd minute, Vydra had another attempt this time which was easily saved by Boruc. A ball was played in and Vydra had to improvise with his knee but his shot was to close to Boruc in the Bournemouth’s goal.
Tamas dismal first half performance got worse as he seemed to suffer a nasty looking injury. The Romanian was stretchered off after a lengthy stoppage for him to receive some attention. Craig Cathcart came on to replace him to make his second debut as a Watford player after joining the club from Blackpool in the summer. The Northern Irishman had a loan spell with the Hornets back in the 2009/10 season when he was on the books at Manchester United.
In the 35th minute, Daniel Pudil saw an ambitious volley go just over the bar.
Watford had goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes to thank for them going in level at half time on level terms when he made an excellent save from Wilson deep into first half stoppage time. Francis was released down the wing and his pin point cross was met by Wilson at the far post but his header was expertly tipped over the bar by the Hornets keeper.
Half Time – 0 – 0.
After a poor start to the first half, then Hornets again made another slow start in the second period. Cathcart’s clearance fell to the feet of Surman in acres of space and the Bournemouth midfielder had a low effort parried by Gomes. Wilson thought he had scored when he converted the rebound but he was flagged offside.
Bournemouth’s pressure continued and Junior Stanislas saw a shot go wide of Gomes near post.
Ruben Martinez made his second change of the afternoon when he brought on Fernando Forestieri for Lloyd Dyer in the 57th minute. Personally, I thought Dyer had a decent afternoon and had troubled the Cherries defence on a few occasions.
In the 63rd minute, the Golden Boys were made to pay for their poor performance and they went behind to a sublime strike from Bournemouth’s Harry Arter. Ekstrand’s clearance looked like it would be collected by Tozser but the Hungarian lost out to Bournemouth’s Ritchie. He played the ball across the field to Arter who was in acres of space. The Hornets defence failed to close him down and the midfielder took a couple of touches before firing a fantastic shot into the top corner from 25 yards leaving Gomes with no chance. It was a deserved lead for the Cherries who had been the better side for most of the match.
Then another controversial moment occurred in the match. Forestieri was cynically taken out by Bournemouth’s Cook who was lucky to escape with a yellow card from referee Oliver Langford. It was a nasty challenge and one that certainly could have seen a red. Daniel Tozser was furious with the challenge and earned himself a yellow card for his protests as well as Bournemouth’s Surman.
Ruben Martinez made his third and final change with 17 minutes to go with Odion Ighalo coming on for Almen Abdi. It hadn’t been the Swiss midfielder’s finest day at the office as the Hornets went in search of a equaliser.
With ten minutes to go, the Hornets had a strong penalty claim turned down , Ikechi Anya was found by a fabulous Tozser pass inside the penalty area before cutting inside Francis, who seemed to slip over and haul Anya down. It seemed like a penalty from where I was sitting in the Lower Graham Taylor and after watching the highlights, it looks even more so but Oliver Langford ruled away the Hornets protests to chants of ‘We Only Get Shit Refs’ from the Rookery.
It didn’t look like the Hornets would be able to find an equaliser but in the 83rd minute, they were level through an unlikely source. Paredes clipped the ball back into the box after a free kick was cleared. Ighalo reached the Ecuadorian’s cross and a Bournemouth player’s header went as far as Cathcart on the edge of the box, who expertly the volleyed the ball into the far corner to put the Golden Boys on level terms. It was a brilliant volley and one that a striker would have been proud of. This capped off a fine display for the Northern Irishman and was a great finish from a central defender.
After getting level, the Golden Boys had two late chances to win it. Daniel Pudil made a great challenge to prevent a Bournemouth chance and Tozser found Ighalo near the centre circle. The Nigerian released Anya down the wing who in turn cut the ball back to Vydra in the box. The Czech, normally so deadly inside the box, sliced his effort which was so nearly converted by Forestieri who was booked for hand ball.
Then as the clock ticked over to 90 minutes, Vydra won the ball from Bournemouth’s O’Kane and Forestieri found Ighalo inside the area. He sidestepped two Bournemouth defenders challenges before firing a tame effort in to the arms of Bournemouth’s Boruc. Even though they were poor for large parts of the game, with the chances they had in the final minutes the Golden Boys could and probably should have won the match which would have been harsh on Bournemouth, who had played well all afternoon.
That was to be that and the Hornets were held to a 1-1 draw by a good Bournemouth side whom deserved more than the one point which they earned.
Results later in the afternoon went the Golden Boys way and Watford remain two points off of Nottingham Forest in 1st position.
Full Time – 1-1.
Team Line-ups
Watford – Gomes (GK) 7, Paredes 7, Ekstrand 7, Tamas 3 (Cathcart 32 8), Pudil 7, Tozser 6, Abdi 6 (Ighalo 77) , Murray 6, Dyer 6 (Forestieri 57 6) , Anya 5, Vydra 5.
Subs Not Used – Bond (GK), Munari, McGugan, Fabbrini.
Goals – Cathcart (83).
Yellow Cards – Forestieri, Tozser.
Bournemouth – Boruc (GK), Francis, Elphick, Cook, Harte, O’Kane, Surman, Ritchie (Smith 88), Arter, Stanislas (Pugh 73), Wilson.
Subs Not Used – Camp (GK), Daniels, Fraser, Pitman, Kermorgant.
Goals – Arter (63)
Yellow Cards – Elphick, Cook, Surman, Arter, Wilson.
Possession – Watford 53%, Bournemouth 47%
My Man Of The Match – Craig Cathcart – The Northern Irishman put in a fine display after coming on for the injured Tamas and scored a fantastic goal to put the Hornets on level terms.
Attendance – 14,320 (707 Bournemouth)
Referee – Oliver Langford.