A 400 mile round trip, 8 hours or so driving and £100+ quid out of pocket for a visit to Preston to watch the Hornets put in an abject display as they fell to a 3-0 defeat to a side who'd scored just once at home all season before last night. The beauty of the Championship where you can beat the league leaders on the Saturday and then be swept aside by a team in the relegation zone just 72 hours later!
Following the home triumph over Sunderland, where we played some quite outstanding football, I headed to Lancashire in high spirits despite the long drive up the M1/M6 that was to come. Plenty of coffee on board for what was going to be a long night, but it was a relatively smooth journey up North, leaving me looking forward to the game as I met up with some fellow Hornets for a pre-match pint.
Deepdale is one of my favourite grounds in the Championship and Preston can only be described as a 'proper football club', to utilise the cliche. PNE is a very old-school club with lots of tradition, history and a very pleasant fan base, a rarity for me to say this but they are very likable as Championship opponents go.
A hardy band of Hornets occupied the stand behind the goal, I tip my hat to anyone that sacrifices the time, money and effort to get to a midweek away day, particularly one so far away from home! After a relatively even opening few minutes, the 'Orns should have been ahead as Baah raced through one-on-one but he could only direct his shot straight at Freddie Woodman in the North End goal, a poor miss as opposed to a good save having seen it back. Meanwhile up the other end, Jonathan Bond made a point-blank stop to prevent the hosts from taking the lead.
Both sides failed to really get into any rhythm but the Hornets in particular couldn't string more than a couple of passes together before losing possession. PNE had lots of the ball but didn't particularly do too much with it in the opening 45 with chances at a premium for the hosts despite looking threatening. For Watford, Baah stung Woodman's palms again before Festy Ebosele should have had a second goal in as many games but couldn't keep his shot down after the ball sat up nicely for the Ireland international when it fell to him with time on his hands at the back-post. It was goalless at the break in a half that won't live long in the memory.
I wanted to dedicate a section to Angelo Ogbonna who was outstanding last night, the only player in yellow that can take much credit for last night's display. His positioning, know-how and general reading of the game highlights why he's had a career at the highest level, a shrewd addition and Watford looked worse off when he left the pitch early in the second half.
If this first half was generally bad, the second half was an absolute disasterclass from the Hornets as they put in a shocking display across the pitch. PNE started the half with a succession of corners but their opener came on the break from a Watford corner kick, as Osmajic slotted home from a fast breakaway that had Cleverley's side all over the place. Suspicions of offside but no less than the hosts deserved on the balance of play.
Substitute Ryan Andrews stung the palms of Woodman and Moussa Sissoko had a header cleared off the line as the Hornets looked to respond to falling behind in Lancashire. But despite the chances, the performance was still disjointed, despite a tactical tweak in the system with the introduction of Bayo (more on him later).
North End doubled their lead with 25 minutes left on the watch, Osmajic again was in the right place at the right time to strike past Bond following more wayward Watford defending. The Hornets had the perfect opportunity to get right back into the match just five minutes later as Bayo beat the offside trap to run clear on goal, only to inexplicably drag his effort off target when it genuinely looked harder to miss than to hit the back of the net. A truly woeful finish from a player who is absolutely nowhere near good enough for the level, truly astonishing how he managed to not even test the 'keeper.
I was soon heading back to the M6 as moments later the hosts scored a well-taken third goal to turn the lights out on any hope Watford had of turning the game around. I was back in the car long before the final whistle, I was more in shock and disbelief than anger at what I'd just seen from the Golden Boys. It was night and day from the outstanding display from Sunderland, a theme of our performances on the road so far and a trend that needs bucking quickly, particularly with the small matter of a trip to Kenilworth Road on the horizon...
I was back in Hertfordshire just before 02:00 am, a truly wasted away day and by far the worst performance of the season. That being said we had chances at 0-0 to make it a very different evening and whilst we weren't play-off certainties for beating Sunderland, we're not doomed for losing at Preston. With a small squad, young players and an inexperienced head coach I expect it's going to be a very up-and-down season.
The 'Orns host high-flying Middlesborough on Saturday, I'm off to Krakow to drink enough beer to forget this trip ever happened...
Up the Watford!
*I have been to every game in September as well but do not have the mental capacity to recap them. To summarise, we got battered at Norwich, robbed at Man City and were superb against Sunderland, we drew at home to Coventry as well (no one needs insight on that).
Preston North End 3-0 Watford
Moment of the match: Leaving the ground and beating the M6 road closures
Pint Price: £4.80
Time in transit: 8.5 hours (rancid)
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