By CCFC Sid
March 7 2005

....but, like the great Johnny Rotten said: "We don't care!" At this stage of the season, three points is all that matters, and, at a place that usually sees CCFC leave the them behind at the Vicarage Road door, taking them back up the motorway was a real boost to our survival hopes. Well, it wasn't a great game, but we took three points from it, so who cares? Except possibly Watford, Gillingham, Plymouth, etc. And, as with every victory from now 'til the end of the season, this was the most important one so far....

The journey down involved a slight (Accidental) detour, and I can now confirm Aylesbury and surrounding areas are fairly nice this time of year....

Having arrived in Watford, a stop off Weatherspoons, a place severely lacking in atmosphere (Until after the match!), was followed by more "medicine" in "Mac's Bar" (The opinion on Weatherspoon's based on being there around midday - I have been told it improved later on. It could still do with a jukebox though....). "Mac's Bar" was far better, though the term "like sardines in a tin" springs to mind!

An hour later, a quick wander round the corner, to what is surely one of the worst grounds in the Championship (Not a comment designed to antogonise, just an observation), saw an obviously bigger CCFC crowd than expected (That's what you get for not sending CCFC enough tickets!!) - which is possibly why the home stewards seemed unable to cope. I cannot remember every having to queue to get to my seat for so long after arriving inside the ground, having paid. The term "like sardines in a tin" springs to mind....

On the pitch, the game kicked off .... and not a lot happened! And what did happen seemed to last about twenty minutes in total - apart from the last five minutes, which seemed to last for ninety....

CCFC, whose record away to Watford is poor, re-called Marcus Hall in place of Andrew Whing, and Scot Scott Shearer in place of the suspended Ian Bennett - and the latters inclusion might explain why the defence looked slightly more nervous than recently. Watford scored twice, and the goals looked as soft as soft goals come (Not necessarily Shearer's fault, I hasten to add) - a real disappointment .... until the final whistle blew! Then nothing else mattered .... except that to many of our relegation rivals picked up points too.

CCFC managed to score three away from home, which is only the second time they've managed to score more than two all season (The other time being a "four", at Notts Forest) - a poor record that needs improving urgently!! Millwall (15/3) and Sunderland (19/3) away seems like a good time to improve this statistic....

Benjamin's goal (To give CCFC a 1-0 lead) was a touch fortunate (Possible use of hands, according to others - not knowing how to set the video means I've yet to see a replay of the incident), the Watford equaliser, dire from Dyer (Please excuse all padding and weak puns - there really isn't a lot to write....).

The half-time entertainment was memorable, I suppose, but only for reasons of treating youngsters taking poor penalties as you would an opponent!! Not big, not clever, but amusing at the time - as were the ditties aimed in the general direction of the referee for said event (A referee? Not some annoying so-and-so from local radio?!). I had wondered what Rik Waller was doing these days....

The second half began, and carried on in much the same way - a cure for insomniacs!

Jorgensen's goal - a touch of class, and a worthy winner of ANY match! - livened things up, and gave CCFC a 2-1 lead. The linesman did try to get this superb effort chalked off, but, after a meeting that seemed to last as long as injury time at Old Trafford, or an Eastenders wedding (Maybe longer), the referee decided his assistant was talking out of his rump (Not an official statement, I hasten to add - more a guess), and the celebrations in the away end re-started....

Doyle's goal, for 3-1 (Which turned out to be the winner) proved CCFC can actually catch teams on the break! It was another clearance from a position of danger that led to the midfielder scoring, with a pass out to McSheffrey seeing him sprint upfield, and set up Doyle, who duly slotted the ball home, then celebrated with CCFC supporters. He's not one of my top rated CCFC players, but his last two displays have been spot on. More of the same please....

Between CCFC goals two and three (Obviously, as Watford only scored twice - hurrah!), there was a let-off for Mickey Adams' side, as Dyer thundered an effort against the CCFC bar, which the defence scrambled to safety. Thank Cliff Richard for that second pair of pants, else there might have been some "fear" showing through....

CCFC gave away a free-kick late on, which the referee moved forward 10 yards, and, if they are honest, I'm guessing most CCFC supporters were thinking 3-3 - thankfully they were wrong! Two days injury time didn't help calm the nerves of those in the away end, with the final whistle being greeted as well as the words "every beer tonight's on the house!" would be.

CCFC's display was fairly solid, if totally unspectacular, and with most of the teams around CCFC picking up points again (Pah!), more than necessary too.

Jorgensen and McSheffrey seemed far less of an attacking force than in recent weeks, though I guess this was down to the amount of tracking back they did, in a bid to stop Watford creating (So scoring three goal without these two shining as brightly as normal was a real bonus). As already written, Jorgensen's goal was a screamer, and I'm not quite sure how much more he has to do to make sure he's still a CCFC player next season, but it surely can't be much??

Apart from the goals, there really wasn't a lot else to write about, with the other main highlight of the day being one of the "Usual Suspects" getting re-named "Timmy Mallett"!! (Though I can't reveal exactly who, as he has threatened violence if anybody does!!). You might have to buy the last ever issue of "Cov City Til I Die! Fanzine" to find out....

The cliche "six pointer" is massively apt for CCFC's next match, at home to Cardiff. They are supposedly in real trouble, though their victory over Sheffield United yesterday would suggest that any idea that they might simply roll over and wait for League one to appear, is way wide of the mark.

Padding over, move along please! There's nothing else for you to read here....