By Tom Hopkinson
ROY HODGSON’S hopes of playing a peaky blinder went up in smoke, as late goals from Jack Cork and Josh Brownhill all but condemned Watford to relegation and gave Burnley’s survival bid a major boost.
Under-the-weather Hodgson, who wasn’t well enough to complete his pre- and postmatch media commitments and spent the entire 90-odd minutes rooted to his seat in the dugout, had looked for a long time to have masterminded a win that kept alive the Hornets’ slim hopes of staying up.
As the clock ticked past the 80-minute mark, James Tarkowski’s early own goal still separated the two sides.
But Cork stormed into the box to thump home a deserved equaliser with his head.
And within four minutes, Brownhill had applied a cool finish from 18 yards to spark scenes of mass celebration on the pitch, in the visitors’
technical area and in the away end.
Brownhill led all but one of his team-mates on a pitch-long dash to enjoy the moment with the travelling Burnley fans, while Ashley Barnes – the odd man out – skidded on his knees, fists pumping in delight, in front of the Watford fans who had been goading him just a few minutes earlier.
Those scenes and the noise in the away end told their own story of the belief Burnley have of staying up after their third successive win took them five points clear of Frank Lampard’s Everton.
Caretaker manager Mike Jackson said: “It’s a great result for us. It wasn’t our best performance. We didn’t start well and we had to respond in the second half.
“The games are so emotionally charged you’re not going to get silky football – it’s about finding a way and we did that.
“We got the first goal and then the second and it’s mayhem.
“But that’s this group, that’s what they do. People give them criticism for other things but what you can’t criticise them for is team spirit.”
This defeat for Watford – a record 11th in a row at home, breaking Sunderland’s previous mark – does not mathematically condemn them to relegation with Norwich.
But if they drop another point they are gone and, even if they don’t, their goal difference is so poor that we might as well bid them farewell now. Hodgson’s assistant Ray Lewington said: “Whether it is or isn’t us down, we have four games to play and the most important thing is that we don’t just drift away.
“For the players’ selfesteem and for the fans it’s important we go into the games and be competitive. “It’s obviously grim, but we must go and perform and the results will take care of themselves.” Juraj Kucka’s shot rattled the bar and rebounded against Tarkowski before it bobbled over the line to put Watford ahead. Aaron Lennon aside – the winger was always looking to get on the ball and get deep into the Watford half – Burnley were disappointing for the rest of the first period.
But they came out a different side after the break and when Cork met Charlie Taylor’s cross, it was a goal they deserved.
Buoyed by that, they came again soon after and when a messy passage in the Watford box saw the ball fall to Brownhill, he steered it past Ben Foster.
Lewington added: “There’s a massive fear factor here, particularly at home, and that comes from losing matches. “It happens at any club. “You could see it at its extreme – first half we were on the front foot, opposition’s half, creating chances, crowd behind us and we went in feeling good.
“But players look at the clock, 30 minutes to go, try to protect the lead…
“We said at half-time the most important thing is not to sit back because you allow crosses to come into the box and then you’re playing Russian roulette.
“It’s an unforgiving league.”