Watford 3 Tranmere Rovers 3

FA Cup 

Saturday 4 January 2020 

insect nation

The context

John had never been to Vicarage Road before. Watford’s Premier League status, however, meant getting hold of tickets was difficult. Alexa – a Cup-tie against League One opposition please, with the visitors my good friends from Birkenhead.

The history

If you plotted Watford’s playing history on a heatmap the years between 1978 and 1988 would glow bright red. My formative years were coloured by their piratical side, dressed far too brightly for a drab era and beating teams I liked using irritatingly simple methods. Taylor’s genius underpinned both. He believed red shorts with yellow shirts made them seem invincible. As for tactics, “People expected us to play the ball down the middle. When we didn’t they struggled to explain how they lost.”

Leaving behind Fourth Division mediocrity to become League runners-up and FA Cup finalists felt pretty remarkable. So too did the short-lived but eventful UEFA Cup run – including a heroic second-leg comeback against the Kaiserslautern of Brehme, Briegel and Allofs – that followed. I personally will never forget three snowy FA Cup matches with Manchester City during 1985-86; it was freezing cold, and Watford prevailed in the end through sheer bloody-mindedness. They usually did.

The journey 

coaches

Middle-aged fans still have genuine fondness for Third Round day. We nevertheless took time out from eagerly spotting Merseyside coaches to experiment with the satnav system that came with John’s new car. It helped us avoid some nasty M1 holdups; treating its screen like a virtual roadmap also kept what remained of our arlarse street cred intact.

sensible

These sensible measures saw us parking up at Watford Girls’ Grammar School just after one. Cut-price tickets – with vague promises of consequent priority for Premiership games – had seemingly created an unusual dynamic among passing home supporters. One family group in yellow and black scarves didn’t even know which way the ground was. 

The ground

Flesh and wine

cheerful

Hundreds of early Tranmere arrivals were milling about as John and I lined our stomachs at the nearest chippy. Cheaply cheerful eating places surround this admirable ground; such careless abundance can sometimes mean difficult choices, but today it simply encouraged us to go back after the match and check out a burger van we spotted earlier.

locals

The Red Lion on Vicarage Road was all bouncered up and clearly not going to admit away fans. We instead settled for Mangan’s, which proved Irish in name only; various boozy locals rubbed shoulders with followers of both clubs, while two pool room seats happily remained free beneath a TV showing the Rochdale v Newcastle match.

The game

foiled again

Interest on Merseyside and indifference here meant Tranmere fans had been given the whole Vicarage Road End. We cut it fine as usual, ambling straight into an old-school day out complete with foil FA Cups and no regard for seat allocation. Pre-cast concrete was flexing like the Drome’s dancefloor while three thousand people bounced along to Tequila.

youth policy

Watford entered into the spirit of things by selecting half their youth side. Most looked as though they’d been let out of school for the afternoon. One debutant, Tom Dele-Bashiru, put them ahead as nervous Tranmere defenders stood off him; Nathaniel Chalobah then punished more hesitancy at the back, with Roberto Pereyra stroking home an equally unchallenged third.

half time

Micky Mellon’s half time words must have been well-chosen. Substitutes Calum Woods and Corey Blackett-Taylor stiffened the team’s spine; VAR proved useful for once, overruling a linesman for Connor Jenning’s perfectly good headed goal and then – after their thumping second from Manny Monthe – confirming that Mason Barrett had brought down Blackett-Taylor. Ill-judged sitting back by Watford, various juveniles getting cramp and Roberto Pereyra’s harsh late dismissal did the rest.

Teams and goals

Watford: Bachmann, Mariappa, Dawson, Spencer-Adams (Barrett 77), Masina, Quina (Whelan 61), Chalobah (Junqueira de Jesus 45), Dele-Bashiru, Success, Gray, Pereyra. Unused subs: Sarr, Dalby, Hungbo, Parkes.

Tranmere: Chapman, Caprice, Clarke, Monthe, Nelson (Woods 45), Morris, Danns, Jennings, Perkins, Ferrier (Mullin 81), Payne (Blackett-Taylor 45). Unused subs: Woods, Ray, Gilmour, Pilling, Walker-Rice.

Goals: Watford: Dele-Bashiru 12, Chalobah 14, Peyeyra 34. Tranmere: Jennings 65, Monthe 78, Mullin 87 (pen).

Attendance: 14,373.