Hull 0 Watford 1: Tigers fail to widen the gap as Watford triumph

SURELY no one believed it was ever going to be that simple? Not in a division where each passing week brings yet more results that border on the ridiculous and absurd.
Hull City's Nick Proschwitz heads the ball towards the goalHull City's Nick Proschwitz heads the ball towards the goal
Hull City's Nick Proschwitz heads the ball towards the goal

Hull City’s hopes of opening up a near unassailable seven-point lead on the chasing pack were dashed last night by a Watford side who served clear notice of their intent to last the course in the race for the Premier League.

Troy Deeney’s 16th goal of the season was enough to settle an entertaining encounter in favour of Gianfranco Zola’s side, who on the strength of their hugely impressive first-half display were full value for the three points.

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True, Hull were much more effective after the break and came close to snatching an equaliser on a couple of occasions.

But, even so, there could surely have been few among the 20,043 crowd – the KC Stadium’s third highest of the season, beaten only by the festive double header against Leeds United and Leicester City – claiming at the final whistle that the better side had lost.

The upshot of Hull’s defeat is that a two-way race for second place behind runaway leaders Cardiff City is now very much on.

A host of twists and turns between now and May 4 seems guaranteed, starting on Saturday when Hull host Middlesbrough a couple of hours before the Hornets face Cardiff in front of the live Sky cameras.

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Trying to predict how those two games will go is, as anyone with even a passing interest in this season’s Championship will tell you, a pointless exercise. One thing that is guaranteed, however, is that the Tigers will have to start better against Tony Mowbray’s men than they did last night.

Steve Bruce had sent his side out with the intention of taking the game to the third-placed visitors.

That much was evident from the attack-minded line-up selected by the Hull manager which saw George Boyd moved into midfield as Gedo returned up front to partner Jay Simpson.

The one fear, though, in the absence of David Meyler, suspended, and Stephen Quinn – left on the bench after a knee injury had kept the one-time Sheffield United man out of the weekend win over Huddersfield Town – was that a midfield with only Alex Bruce as a recognised stopper could be overrun by the visitors’ renowned slick passing game.

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For 45 minutes, that proved to be the case as Watford set the pace in impressive fashion.

So dominant were Zola’s men, in fact, that Hull could consider themselves fortunate to only be a goal behind at the break.

Certainly, Cristian Battocchio should have done better when played through on the half-hour by Almen Abdi, who had been equally wasteful earlier in the night when shooting wide from a promising position.

Matej Vydra also went close, with only a brave block by Abdoulaye Faye preventing the Championship’s Player of the Year from claiming what would have been his 23rd goal of the season.

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The goal Watford’s enterprising play warranted came four minutes before the interval courtesy of a cushioned pass by Vydra and a stunning 20-yard shot by Deeney that gave David Stockdale no chance in the home goal.

It was no more than Zola’s men deserved, though their fine work was almost undone in stoppage time at the end of the first half when only a reflex save by Jonathan Bond prevented Boyd from sweeping a knockdown from Gedo into the net.

After the runaround that the 
Tigers had been given, an effort on goal at such a late stage of the half was timely and its effect could be seen in the opening stages of the second period as Bruce’s men threw off the inhibitions that had seen them sit far too deep in the opening 45 minutes.

As a result, far more questions were asked of the Hornets’ defence as, first, Simpson turned smartly on the edge of the area before unleashing a fierce shot that Bond fortuitously turned round a post.

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Then, in quick succession, Brady and Robert Koren stung the hands of the Hornets goalkeeper, whose flying save to deny the Hull captain was made all the more impressive by him beating the ball away from danger.

Bond had less problems dealing with a second, much tamer, effort from Koren on 66 minutes before Watford wasted a golden opportunity to double their advantage when Deeney’s shot was beaten away by Stockdale following 
excellent work from Vydra.

Stung back into action by the let-off, Hull pressed for an equaliser as Koren’s shot was blocked and Simpson’s header drifted wide of a post.

Corry Evans also fired wide before Ahmed Elmohamady picked out Simpson with a searching right-wing cross that the former Arsenal trainee could only head straight at Bond.

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The final chance of the night came and went courtesy of poor control by Nick Proschwitz to ensure the final whistle was met by raucous cheers from the 1,292 away fans who knew, as they began the long return journey south, that the race for second place is still very much alive.

Hull City: Stockdale; Chester, Faye, Hobbs (Proschwitz 78); Elmohamady, Koren, Bruce (Quinn 68), Boyd, Brady; Gedo (Evans 68), Simpson. Unused substitutes: Jakupovic, Rosenior, Cairney, Fathi.

Watford: Bond; Ekstrand, Hall (Doyley 26), Briggs (Pudil 56); Cassetti, Abdi, Battocchio, Chalobah, Anya; Deeney, Vydra (Buaben 83). Unused substitutes: Bonham, Yeates, Geijo, Forestieri.

Referee: R Madley (West Yorkshire).

Results and table: Page 22.