That’s it, then! What we had dared hope could be a glorious day in the Club's history ended with barely a whimper amongst a sea of yellow, which made one feel like the jam roly poly in the middle of a huge bowl of custard.
Stan once again kept faith with the same XI who had started at Millwall. To be brutally honest, the warning signs were there to be seen at the New Den - after a bright start we had faded alarmingly, and ended the game with 45 minutes under siege. The general consensus after that game was that the 4-5-1 system had been found out; indeed it had been found out at Stoke, where we were lucky to escape with three points. We agreed that we really needed to be a little more adventurous at Watford if we were to take anything from the game.
Once again Gareth Taylor found himself on his own up front, supported by Ian Moore and shrinking violet Alan Moore. Grant, Briscoe and Cook were the midfield ‘enforcers’, and the back four was the usual West, Branch, Cox, Diallo line-up. In goal of course was Marlon.
The game actually started brightly for Burnley. We made a couple of forays down the flanks, and Gareth Taylor proceeded to win almost every ball which we invariably pumped up to him. He continued to do this for the rest of the game, although sadly he never had the support his performance warranted. At times we knocked it around with ease, but the warning signs were there even at that early stage. We had no tempo, our movement was pedestrian and our attacks lethargic: this was in complete contrast to Watford, who buzzed (no pun intended) around on the few occasions they gained possession.
They always looked the most likely - you know when you get one of those feelings? You don’t want to say anything, but I think many Clarets were thinking the same - we just simply did not look up for it. I don’t think the occasion got to us; in truth it was the Clarets’ support who gave the match any sort of atmosphere, so I certainly don’t think they were overawed. I simply believe that we played the wrong formation and we paid the price. Time and time again we pumped high balls to Gareth Taylor, who was performing heroics by winning most of them, only to find that there was nobody else over the halfway line and able to run onto it. We were so deep, it quite simply invited Watford to attack us, and after they had got over their initial fears they took control of the game. To be honest we had lost this game after 20 minutes.
Without wishing to be overly critical, it is difficult to see how we can play a five-man midfield when none of them are what you would consider a ball-winner. This is why we cannot control games: each time we pumped that hopeful ball towards Gareth it came straight back with interest and set up a Watford attack. Grant (who has improved recently) cannot be considered a strong midfield player; he is, if anything, supposedly a cultured player, a passer of the ball, as is the admirable Paul Cook. Both of these centre midfielders tried their best, but up against a combative Watford midfield they could not gain any foothold on the game. Lee Briscoe, meanwhile, appears at times to have headless chicken syndrome, popping up all over the pitch and not actually contributing to the five-man midfield.
Then of course you have Mrs Moore’s boys. Ian tries hard, but he is not a winger and needs to be playing in his specialist position, whilst Alan Moore seems to avoid any sort of contact with the ball. Surely we could put a heat-seeking implement in the ball in the vain hope that Alan may be eventually forced to face up to his demons and actually make contact with the bloody thing. Alan Moore is all the more frustrating for the fact that we all know that he is an extremely talented and most competent player. He is sadly also a waster - he wastes his God-given talent, and contributes little to the team.
You may have noticed that there is a distinct lack of match detail. In truth, there was not a huge amount going on. To be honest it was a very poor match. The ball flew from one end to the other, and occasionally went out for a corner - at one point Watford won three in succession, each and every one of them headed away by Gareth Taylor. Those that criticise Taylor would perhaps do well to check out his overall work-rate and teamwork. He may not have a huge amount of pace, but he has a clever football brain and works tirelessly for the cause.
Half time arrived, and it was goalless. We came out unchanged, and proceeded to play exactly the same as the first half. I believe that we were hoping for a draw, and that we didn’t have a huge intention of going for the win. Watford had by now begun to control the game, and were forcing us to defend deeper and deeper. Stan responded by bringing on Glen Little and trying to get a bit more of the ball; unfortunately, this had the opposite effect, as it was Watford who finally took the lead. A cross from the left fell invitingly for the stumbling Smith, who managed to poke the ball past the helpless Beresford. It was a terrible, scrappy goal to give away, but it was symptomatic of what had gone before. In truth we never looked like getting an equaliser, and a few minutes later Cox fouled Noel-Williams and Glass curled a splendid free kick past Marlon and his dodgy wall. A sign of how poor our attacking play was today can be seen in the fact that I believe we won our first corner after over an hour's play. Before that we had rarely been close enough to the opposition's goal to threaten.
Credit to the fans who continued to give vocal support to the team, and the majority also gave them generous applause at the final whistle. That applause was for a splendid Cup run all told - we as Clarets know that these tend to be few and far between, and here we were on the verge of a semi-final. Sadly it wasn’t to be, it was too big a hurdle to surmount, and we didn’t quite have enough. Credit to Watford: they are a mediocre, average side – very similar to ourselves - but they had the belief to take them on to the next level.
So what next for us? Well, it gave us a much-needed cash injection, but the worry for me (certainly after the Sheff Utd result last night) is that we don’t tend to come back strongly. I hope we can pull out of what could turn into a nosedive towards the end of the season. There is no time for licking our wounds: we are Burnley, and most importantly, we are proud to be Burnley.
Subs not used: Michopoulos, Weller.
Scorers: (Watford) Tommy Smith 74, Stephen Glass 80.
Referee: A G Wiley (Burntwood).
Attendance: 20,336.
Whitto's man of the match: Graham Branch.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road