NUFC: Given, Barton, Hughes (Domi 46mins), Howey, Dabizas, Lee, Speed, Solano, Gallacher, Ferguson, Shearer.
Subs not used: Harper, Gavilan, Ketsbaia, Fumaca.
Booked: None.
Sent off: None.

WFC: Chamberlain, Page, Cox, Palmer, Robinson, Wooter (Williams 79mins), Hyde, (Bonnot 87mins), Johnson R, Kennedy, Helguson, Smart.
Subs not used: Smith, Ngonge, Day
Booked: None.
Sent Off: None.

Referee: Alan Wiley (Stafford)

Goals:
58 mins. Shearer had hit the post moments earlier and seemed intent on making up for the miss. However, instead of going for glory (he did this later) he waited for Domi on the overlap. Domi made it to the byline and crossed accurately for Gallacher to sidefoot home 1-0.

Waffle:

In the list of well-worn phrases used about our club "the fans deserve so much more" must rank fairly highly. Well, for the first time in my all-too-long-suffering supporting life I'm beginning to wonder whether we do.

What did we have on Saturday? A visit from a club certain to return to the place from where they dared to emerge just seven months ago. What did that mean for us? An opportunity to fill our boots? The chance for Alan Shearer to make up some Premiership goals on the former Hornet plying his trade down the road? Or just the chance to sit back, relax and watch while the black and white minstrels entertained us?

This used to be my attitude when I was about five or six but happily I've grown up since then. Our Gran used to take us to one match a year when we were small and for me that meant picking the side that we'd get a hatful against. The 1974 cup run pitted Isthmian leaguers Hendon against us in Round Three and this was the game I'd chosen as a five-year-old to see Supermac & Co score seven or eight against. It ended 1-1 and the lads played like spanners.

Unperturbed I plumped for Sheffield United who were as far adrift as Watford are now during the 75-76 season. The score? 1-1 again. Two salutary lessons for a young lad realising that going to games wasn't like watching Shoot! on a Sunday afternoon. For one, you didn't get Ken Wolstenholme.

So, for a lot of us, the visit of Watford provided an opportunity to take stock and remember where we were not so long ago and where we could easily have been this season. When Bobby took over, Watford were sat in mid-table having just won at Anfield and I'm sure a few of us were wondering whether a snowy-haired owld fella could possibly get us out of the mess and put us up the league somewhere near clubs like....Watford. And now? We wait for our Wembley tickets to arrive, having tonked the Champions of Europe 3-0, contemplating next year's Premiership campaign with some optimism.

I'm not saying that we should be grateful for small mercies and put up with second rate performances but the fact that this could easily have been a relegation six-pointer seemed lost on more than an arrogant few on Saturday. The first half was certainly not one of our best and I was as frustrated as any at the lack of clearcut chances. However, some of our build up play from the back was excellent, Barton in particular barely putting a foot out of place as he skipped up and down the right wing and was unlucky not to score with a low angled drive. He linked well with Solano who also showed some dazzling skill and pace and at times we went forward with purpose. The final ball and indecision around the box was our downfall and the longer we failed to score the less likely we looked like breaking down the visitor's defence.

Aaron Hughes looked a bit uncomfortable at left back - we later learnt that he had picked up the virus that had sidelined Kieron Dyer. Howey and Dabizas still look to be some way off the dream ticket that shores up our defence and subsequently Watford ended up having the clearest chances. Given superbly turned away a Helguson header and Wooter also skied a good opportunity.

Half-time brought the not unexpected introduction of Domi for Hughes and that and an obvious kick up the jacksie from Bobby injected some purpose into the side. Big Dunc wasted a similar chance to the one he tucked away against Sheffield United, this time taking it on his left foot. We began to exert some pressure and Nobby put in corner after corner with Gary Speed and Nicos Dabizas both coming close with headers. And then it seemed like we had our goal when Howey's forward header played in Shearer. Time stood still as he waited for Chamberlain to commit himself. Al then picked his spot but curled a drive against against the post that bounced out to safety. "One of those days" was the next cliche that sprung to mind but Al kept his cool and played in Domi who crossed for Gallacher to sidefoot from close range. Robert Page who had been a dirty get all afternoon tried to knock the smile off Gallacher's face (literally) but the wee man's delight was obvious.

Shearer had another one on one minutes later but took it too far around Chamberlain and planted a weak cross on top of the bar as he tried to find the unmarked Gallacher. Clearly he should have crossed it earlier when Gallacher could have tapped into an unguarded net but after hitting the post earlier he was always going to go for goal. The howls of derision that followed the miss seemed a bit over the top - surely this is the job of the national media not his own fans..?? Mind, Bobby has something to answer for here. Apparently in training they had practised with two keepers and two goals at either end this week. Al obviously was going for the wrong one....

Domi almost grabbed the decisive second but cleared the bar after cutting inside and although Watford came close on one occasion to grabbing a late equaliser it would have been as undeserved as West Ham's point in January. The mass exodus of thousands of Newcastle fans with five minutes to go still leaves me staggered. I've never seen anything like it at St.James', especially considering we were still defending just the one goal lead. There must have been around 10,000 who were on their way home well before the final whistle - the bloke next to me left at half-time. I'll still never understand why this happens. Derby scored twice in injury time the other week to grab a point and even three late goals isn't a rare occurrence. For these people to be receiving semi-final tickets this week is a disgrace, I'd use CCTV to take their seat numbers and sell their tickets publicly. Add to that the sporadic and half-hearted vocal support and as I headed away from the ground I wondered whether we do "deserve so much more". Perhaps at the moment a narrow victory over a struggling side at St. James' is exactly what we do deserve. Those that gave the side superb support at Hillsborough definitely deserve silverware. I just hope that each and every one of them gets a letter dropping on their mat containing tickets for April 9th some time soon.

The continually consistent Watford website "Blind, Stupid and Desperate" (http://www.display.co.uk/watford/main.html) had a couple of worthwhile features, one of which Biffa contributed:

What we think of them (pre-season.)

What they think of us (pre-season.)

Their Match Report (current.)
The one by Ian Grant sums up the lack of atmosphere at St. James' fantastically, while acknowledging the pride and passion of the city.

Niall MacKenzie