Watford 3-0 Scunthorpe United
Vicarage Road
Coca-Cola Championship - Saturday, November 21, 2009

FULL-TIME

Watford 3 Scunthorpe United 0

United were ok in the first-period, despite falling two behind - but I'd be lying if I told you they'd  done anything in the second. Watford win by three goals, and it could have been by more. This is truly one of those days when the United fans who decided to stay at home made the right decision.

As you'd expect, this result will have repercussions. Namely, United will slide a little further down the league, continuing their flirtation with the relegation zone. Where the next Scunthorpe win will come from I do not know. But I do know that it needs to come quickly.

SECOND-HALF

90 Minutes: Thank goodness that Nathan Ellington just slipped as he shot - otherwise it'd be 4-0 now. He worked his way casually through the United defence, before cutting back (the moment at which he slipped) and firing over.

88 Minutes: The clock's running down, the rain's coming down, and the game's about to go down as the Iron's fourth league defeat in a row. Things are looking bleak in more ways than one at the moment. Scunthorpe are in possession as I type, in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Watford half. They win a corner. "Iron, Iron, Iron" our fans chant. But the team on the pitch don't reward their enthusiasm with a goal.

84 Minutes: Sub by Watford - Danny Graham off. Michael Bryan takes his place.

79 Minutes: The last man back, David Mirfin, brings down Danny Graham as he races towards goal. It was a complete accident, but I still think that Mirfin will consider himself lucky to have stayed on the pitch. Most officials would have sent him packing for that. Graham stays down on the floor to recieve treatment, and Mirfin is booed loudly by the crowd.

73 Minutes: Subs by Watford - Harley comes on for Cleverley; Ellington on for Helguson. So Helguson won't get his third goal then.

72 Minutes: Helguson gets through after a mistake in the United defence; and the Hornet nearly gets his hat-trick through a dipping effort which Lillis does well to gather.

67 Minutes: Attempts to remove on of the coats of gloss from the score are made by Martyn Woolford. He brings the ball down in the box, before nailing a shot at the goal. It goes into the side-netting, but was about as close as United have come this half - as they've been pretty dormant since going three down.

63 Minutes: An absolutely fantastic save from Josh Lillis denies Helguson his third goal of the game. Helguson had crept free at the back, allowing him to curl an effort across goal, which Lillis somehow managed to claw away.

59 Minutes: In tandem with Martyn Woolford getting away down the wing, the volume of the stadium drops. I don't mean that in a good way though, like Watford are nervous - it just goes flat. Woolford gets to the byline, then attempts to pop in a cross. It goes out of play. The silence is deafening.

55 Minutes: Thankfully, Josh Lillis is alert and and seizes a cross which is angled into his area by Don Cowie. Had Lillis not grabbed that, it could have fallen for any one of a number of Watford players. 

48 Minutes: Goal for Watford! Henri Lansbury draws an error from N'Gala, and then passes inside to Danny Graham, who finishes the game as a contest by rolling the ball into the bottom-corner of the net. From a fans perspective, this is making painful watching. Damage limitation is the new objective.

Watford 3 Scunthorpe United 0

45 Minutes: Subs by Scunthorpe -  Before the half commences, Matt Sparrow and Rob Jones are replaced by Michael O'Connor and Bondz N'Gala respectively.

HALF-TIME

Watford 2 Scunthorpe United 0

I said after the second goal that it's game over. I still can't see United getting back into this to be honest (they needed to score before the break to have a chance of doing so, in my view), but the way that the team haven't given up is a credit to them.

Furthermore, United are doing better than the score suggests - but the crucial difference is that again, they're wasting chances. Hayes and Togwell could each have a goal, but the harsh reality is that they don't. Helguson, by contrast, has two.

FIRST-HALF

42 Minutes: United miss a golden chance -  but it's not all doom and gloom - it's just unlucky, and comes about after an inspiring move. It starts with Hooper, who cuts the ball across the area for Woolford. Woolford turns on it, before laying it to Hayes, and he in turn manages to lure Scott Loach off his line, before directing the ball ack a few yards, and into the path of Sam Togwell. Togwell shoots, but is denied by a defender on the line.

37 Minutes: An opportunity for United passes without the scoreline being reduced. Matt Sparrow crafts a cross into the box, and after Mirfin manages to knock it on, Rob Jones comes close to heading home - but the ball's just a little behind him, and he cannot adjust his stance in time to meet it.

30 Minutes: Nothing worth writing about has happended in the last ten minutes. The score remains the same.

23 Minutes: Goal for Watford! And it's a second for Helguson. He meets a cross from the right, and I think that'll be game over to be honest.

Watford 2 Scunthorpe United 0

20 Minutes: Goal for Watford! At one end of the field, Hayes makes himself a great opportunity, but pokes it straight at Scot Loach. Predictably, Watford then score in their next attack - highlighting the importance of taking chances. The goal comes when Helguson's simple header from the middle of the box beats Lillis, courtesy of poor defending from Scunny.

Watford 1 Scunthorpe United 0

17 Minutes: When United win a free-kick in the middle of the Watford half, Josh Wright spins a teasing ball into the box. It's met by Rob Jones, who clips it towards goal while under pressure. In fact, Jones is under so much pressure, he ends up on the floor, and his complaints to the referee are audible from my seat in the stand!

9 Minutes: Henri Lansbury cuts out a through ball, resulting in a corner to Scunthorpe. It's cleared however, by the fists of Scott Loach, after Josh Wright pumped it into a tantalisingly dangerous area. That was good, positive Iron play there - for the first time this afternoon.

5 Minutes: Josh Lillis has seen the ball more than any other United player in these openings stages, Watford are searching for an early goal, and are looking genuinely threatening. On a non-football note, I'm sorry for the time it's taken to file these first reporting's from Vicarage Road - we've hit a few problems already this afternoon (which were beyond our control) and the game's barely kicked-off!

2 Minutes: Danny Graham edges through the United defence and in on goal. The linesman raises his flag and the whistle blows, but Graham strikes the ball low into the bottom corner anyway - just for the heck of it.

Watford: Loach, Mariappa (c), Lansbury, Cowie, Graham, Helguson. Doyley, Cleverley, Cathcart, Eustace, Hodson. Subs: Severin, Harley, Lee, Bennett, Henderson, Ellington, Bryan.

Scunthorpe United: Lillis, Togwell, Byrne, Sparrow, Hayes, Hooper, Jones (c), Mirfin, Woolford, J. Wright, Friend. Subs: Williams, McCann, Thompson, Forte, O'Connor, Slocombe, N'Gala.

For United, that means four changes. Lillis is in for the suspended Murphy; whereas Woolford, Josh Wright and Gary Hooper make returns to the team for more tactical reasons.

PREAMBLE

Vicarage Road is our location today. United are seeking points to halt their steady slide towards the relegation zone, but know they have a sizeable task ahead of them - the Watford team they're playing includes the likes of Tom Cleverley and former Scunthorpe loan star Henri Lansbury.