ANOTHER CLASSIC IN A SEASON OF THEM
CATASTROPHIC blunders, a penalty and a red card. Wonder goals, wonder saves, a comeback and a collapse.
Just when you thought the Championship promotion race couldn’t get any better, it serves up a classic that epitomises this crazy, helter-skelter race for the top flight.
Quite how Derby failed to win this game only they can answer. goal and a man up with half an hour to play, they should have put Watford to the sword.
Instead, they let the nerves set in, switched off and were punished by a wonderful piece of football.
Such is life when your confidence is shot.
Once champions-elect, the Rams are now winless in seven and in the top six only on goal difference. Keeping them there must now be Steve McClaren’s only aim.
For Watford, this was a huge point, and one their first-half dominance merited. Defensively, the Hornets remain fragile but the mixture of incisiveness and spirit should ensure they battle for automatic promotion.