In a must win game Mowbray made four changes to the side that started at Blackpool midweek.  In came Kevin Phillips, Zoltan Gera, James Morrison and Leon Barnett, with Luke Moore, Chris Brunt, Pele and the injured Martin Albrechtsen the men to miss out.

It was a bright start from the Baggie boys, creating their first chance after just two minutes when Gera was unlucky to head Jonathan Greening’s free kick just wide from 12 yards.  But the bright start meant nothing as lax defending saw Albion fall behind in the 6^th minute.

Another set piece caused problems for the Baggies defence, who failed to deal with McAnuff’s corner, allowing O’Toole a 6 yard fee header which Kiely did well to keep out with his legs.  But the rebound fell nicely for Bromby, who made no mistake in stabbing the ball home from close range to give Watford the one goal advantage.

It didn’t take long for Albion to find their attacking feet again, but Hornets keeper Richard Lee was unfazed by a 30 yard Gera effort, which sailed over the crossbar.  In the 17^th minute Robinson released Morrison with a wonderful looping ball over Doyley, but his low strike was recovered well by the Watford keeper.

Despite the pressure Aidy Boothroyd’s men were proving hard to break down, resulting in some long range efforts from Mowbray’s men.  Neil Clement came close, but not close enough with a 30 yard piledriver, then a dipping effort from Phillips was well collected by Lee.  In the 36^th minute a rare mistake from Hornets captain John Eustace gifted Ishmael Miller the ball on the edge of the box, but a last ditch tackle from Danny Shittu squandered the chance.

In the 38^th minute a rare attack from Watford since their opener produced a wonderful save from Kiely, who had to use one hand to prevent Priskin’s header from McAnuff’s free kick from finding the target.  The resulting corner had the Baggies defence at sixes and sevens again, but thankfully the scorer Bromby wasted this time from 15 yards.

As the half drew rapidly to a close Albion were unlucky to not go in on level terms.  In he 44^th minute a superb free kick from Neil Clement had Lee beat, but rattled the crossbar as it went out of play for a goal kick.  Watford were unlucky themselves in the dying seconds as Priskin got the better of both Clement and Robinson to pull off a clever back heel to  Smith, who found McAnuff in space in the box.  Despite turning well, McAnuff fired well over from 15 yards.

Half Time: West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Watford

It was another bright start from Albion in the second half, and just 4 minutes into it they had found their equaliser.  A well placed free kick from Hungarian International Zoltan Gera allowed Leon Barnett to break free in the box and head home on 49 minutes.

A superbly well timed challenge at the other end of the field from Paul Robinson prevented any danger from Darius Henderson as his close range shot was diverted out of play.  Back at the other end Ishmael Miller sent Robert Koren free down the middle, although the super striker Kevin Phillips could not find enough on his resulting header to beat Richard Lee.

From a bizarre angle Ishmael Miller nearly hand Lee beat, but the keeper stayed alert to collect the makeshift cross or shot.  In the 66^th minute Albion should have taken the lead when a cleverly thought through looping ball played Miller free in the box, but Miller hesitated to the ball, allowing Lee time to meet the striker half way and parry his effort away from goal.  Lee did excellently to regain his balance in time to save Morrison’s follow up.

In the 67^th minute Mowbray replaced Morrison with Brunt, and six minutes later he made a second substitution with Ishmael Miller the man to make way for Roman Bednar.  The double substitution changed the nature of the game entirely, with Albion now becoming almost impossible to contain. 

In the 76^th minute the Baggies found the net for a second time when a well placed throughball from Brunt allowed Bednar to pace down on the Watford keeper.  But the goal was flagged as offside, despite TV replays since showing that neither Bednar nor Phillips were offside.

Next to try and find the winner was Phillips, but he could only head straight at Lee after Gera had done well o find the striker in the centre.  In the 85^th minute Gera must have shaved the paint off the left upright with a chance that was agonisingly close from 20 yards. 

In the dying stages of the game Albion continued to press, Bednar coming close also as he placed just over from Brunt’s cross.  But it was not to be the Baggies afternoon as they had to settle for a point, with just one of their remaining fixtures left to play at the Hawthorns.  Albion travel to Molineux on Tuesday night as both Midlands sides search for maximum points.

Full Time: West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Watford

Barnett (49)

Bromby (6)

Attendance: 26,508

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