Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HORNETS STING KILLS OFF OWLS
Revenge for Vicarage title robbery
PAYBACK was six years in the making and Watford will make no apologies for their good fortune after grinding out their 10th win in 11 games.
In-form Watford needed Tom Lees’ own goal, and a Premier League referee determined to assert his authority, to move closer to the chequered flag.
Struggling Sheffield Wednesday, running out of time to beat the drop, claimed the winner was offside.
On the last day of the season in 2015, the Owls burgled a 91st-minute equaliser at Vicarage Road to deny Watford the Championship title, handing the party streamers to Bournemouth.
This time, fortune conspired against Wednesday at every turn.
Their task was already daunting enough when manager Darren Moore tested positive for Covid-19 just 24 hours before kick-off, leaving assistant Jamie Smith to take charge.
And the gradient became even steeper when skipper Lees turned Ismaila Sarr’s cross into his own net after seven minutes with Isaac Success lurking at the far post for a tap-in.
The Owls protested furiously that Success had been flagged offside by linesman Dan Cook, only for referee Chris Kavanagh to overrule him after a consultation picketed by players from both sides.
Smith claimed: “The first pass to Sarr looks offside and Lees would never have touched it if the Watford player at the far post – who was also offside – wasn’t behind him.
“I’m disappointed for the players because they deserved to get something out of the game.
“We found out about the boss testing positive yesterday, before we travelled, but he is OK. He was watching the game and stayed in contact with our analysts. The feeling is still positive. We remain 100 per cent confident that we will stay up and we’ll continue to fight for every single point.” The twinkle in Watford boss Xisco Munoz’s eye suggested he knew the gods had smiled on his team, but he grinned: “I think it was a good goal, a normal goal.
“Isaac is far off the ball when the cross comes in and the referee was good.”
Watford closed to within six points of Norwich at the summit but Munoz (left) refused to entertain talk of another late charge for the title like 2015. He said: “The first objective is to make the play-offs, the second is to take second place and only then, if it is possible and we keep working hard, can we aim for the top.”
In Wednesday’s spirited response, Hornets keeper Daniel Bachmann had to sprawl at the feet of Josh Windass and Jordan Rhodes spooned high and wide.
But Watford, who lost top scorer Joao Pedro to an ankle injury, had their own chances with Success dragging hopelessly wide but saw out their 16th win in 20 home games – the best home record in all four divisions.