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To my surprise, over a thousand Burnley fans had made the trip to Watford and there was anticipation around, and a belief that we could exploit Watford's poor form and our somewhat healthy run under Howe. Another surprise was that they had a disappointing attendance and their stadium looked somewhat empty. Also, the atmosphere left a lot to be decided. A club who use a drum, not only a fan, but a mascot, was interesting and looked desperate.
The game kicked off and the opening exchanges were very equal, Watford narrowly missing in the first 30 seconds, the Burnley defence opening up far too easily. Then what took me and many Burnley fans by surprise, a comedy own goal from the Watford defender, seemingly under minimal pressure from Chris Eagles, the ball cleared by Scott Loach onto the defender and in, more laughter than celebration from the Burnley fans.
Within 5 minutes Watford were equal, Burnley failing to deal with a low drilled cross across the six yard box and scrambled off Lee Grant and Tyrone Mears Duff by Danny Graham to tap into an open net. The goal was frustrating to concede, and was maybe fair do's for the horrible own goal Watford conceded. The rest of the first half was played out in deadlock and was very even, both sides having chances, Ross Wallace and Fox working well down the left and Mears down the right, Chris Eagles was very quiet in the first half and was clearly a frustrated figure.
The second half began and Watford looked like they wanted it more; an almost silent Burnley team looked subdued and very much under the cosh, Burnley switched on at 60 minutes, playing some decent football , maybe this was sparked by Danny Fox's challenge which personally I thought only warranted a yellow card, differ if you wish. This sparked some hunger in the Burnley team.
Then, in the 66th minute, a moment of class, Eagles to Iwelumo, back to Eagles, and just as it looked as Chris had tried to do too much, he manages to squeeze the ball past Scott Loach into the Watford goal. Cue celebrations from the Burnley fans and some confidence in the Burnley players.
Watford's heads seemed to drop, and the vocal supporters following Burnley urged the Clarets on as Eagles shone, outclassing the Watford defence, beating his man almost every time, thus turning creator for Burnley's third goal. Beating the Watford full back, drawing Scott Loach to his near post before floating a cross over to the far post where Iwelumo waited and was never going to lose the aerial battle, he just wanted it more and it showed.
Burnley then saw the game out, Marvin Bartley making a short debut, but he didn't see enough ball to judge him on. And Wallace and Rodriguez holding the ball up and grinding down the time, hate it against you, love it for you. A definite improvement in away attitude under Howe, but we'll have to improve to get anything away at Cardiff.