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Everything about the place though was different last night, the streets outside the ground were quiet, it was probably even quieter inside and this time there were no sign of all the yellow balloons, just the yellow of the thousands of empty seats.
There was on similarity though and that was another weary game when the Clarets never got out of first gear and we really do have to think ourselves very fortunate to have earned a point. That we did was partly due to the fact that Watford were as bad as anything we have played all season.
We got off to a shaky start and on more than one occasion the assistant’s flag came to the rescue as the home side looked to get off the mark and gain some confidence. They could have been helped by some rather dubious looking goalkeeping by Brian Jensen and on one occasion when he failed to get even a hand on a ball we survived only after a last ditch clearance.
Finally we got into the game and won a couple of free kicks on the edge of the Watford box the second of which brought about the first yellow card of the night as the Flood Warden Andy Hall put Gavin Mahon’s name into the book. Mahon could count himself fortunate, some referees would have considered Robbie Blake to be the last man and shown him red.
Blake forced the first save out of Alec Chamberlain with a low drive to his left from the free kick. but Watford then created two chances for themselves and failed to ask any questions of Jensen.
Blake’s effort from the free kick was a good one but he should have given the Clarets the lead just after the half hour when we were awarded a penalty for handball against Danny Webber.
Again the Clarets fans behind the goals demanded a red card as Danny Webber stuck up his hands in as blatant a penalty as you will ever see. The Flood Warden didn’t even bother with a word.
Chamberlain went left, the ball went to his right but agonisingly wide of the post. This was Blake’s third consecutive penalty miss this season (Chesterfield in the shoot out and Crewe at home). He certainly lost confidence and was not much of an influence for the rest of the game.
Without playing at all well we had during the half won ourselves more than our fair share of possession and we really should have been able to get ourselves in front against this woeful Watford side.
It looked as though we would have to settle for 0-0 though at half time as we went into the two minutes stoppage time without a goal. Not on your life, Watford won a free kick and after a flick on Scott Fitzgerald gave them the lead with fingers once again pointing at keeper Brian Jensen who should have dealt with it comfortably.
One down it was then at half time and after dropping two points to the bottom club on Saturday surely we wouldn’t drop more to the second worst team. Surely we would get it together in the second half and come through to win this.
Thankfully we got ourselves on top right from the beginning of the second half and we should have drawn level with an Ian Moore header but he somehow managed to head over. We didn’t have to wait long though and it was Luke Chadwick who latched on to a header in the box. His shot took a wicked deflection off a Watford defender but who cares we were level and surely set to go on and win the game.
Not in this world and for much of the remainder of the game we hardly created an opportunity for ourselves as we allowed this Watford side, they must be strong favourites for relegation on this form, to dictate.
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The closest Watford did come was an effort from our own keeper Jensen who made a complete hash of a ball into the box and somehow managed to punch it from chest height over the back of his head. The Burnley fans behind the goal were relieved to see it just clear the bar and land of the top of the netting.
For a spell the Flood Warden took over and it seemed almost pointless him putting his yellow card back in his pocket so frequently was he using it. David May was the Burnley player carded during this period and he will know only too well that he is a very fortunate man indeed not to have seen red twice in four days after reacting to a foul.
It was inevitable that eventually someone would get a second yellow and so it was when Paolo Vernazza caught David May just inside our box. Hall couldn’t wait and in dramatic style waved yellow and red.
This was familiar, just three days later Burnley conceded a two goal lead when reduced to ten men and now the roles were reversed so it was our turn to go on and win it.
It is fair to say that as an attacking side little else was seen of Watford but at no stage did they ever really look to be a man down and they prevented us from creating anything resembling a half chance.
We seemed to have no real ideas on how to break them down and to be honest had we done so and scored a goal it would have been unjust. We almost did though deep into stoppage time when poor Watford defending so Chadwick clear in the box but he drilled his effort against the upright and that was that.
Some will say two points gained with two away draws, given the quality of the opposition this is without doubt four points dropped. We were poor and there were some poor individual performances. The keeper once again frightened the life out of us with his poor handling and Ian Moore and Delroy Facey had what could only be called nightmares.
It was said to me that once our threesome of Farrelly, Blake and Chadwick are not performing then we look a very run of the mill side indeed and that was certainly the case last night with the three of them not as influential.
For our best player look no further than the centre of defence and David May and Andy Todd. With May now facing two suspensions, he received his fifth yellow card last night, and Todd returning to Blackburn after Saturday’s game we could have major worries. Remember how easily we were conceding goals before these two arrived.
But to complete this match a word about the resident Flood Warden Hall. He worries me, he looks like a man who genuinely wants to be the star attraction. He had a poor game but Mahon, Webber and May could all have been sent off by another referee who perhaps was following the Phillip Don rules to the letter of the law. Hall is not a referee I want to see too much of though.
It is Walsall on Saturday, given the poor results in the last few days this really is a game we have to go out and win.
The teams last night were,
Watford: Alec Chamberlain, Steve Kelly, Marcus Gayle, Neil Cox, Paul Robinson, Gavin Mahon, Paolo Vernazza, Neal Ardley, Danny Webber, Bruce Dyer (Jamie Hand 68), Scott Fiztzgerald. Subs not used: Lenny Pidgeley, Sean Dyche, Lee Cook, Ashley Young.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Dean West, David May (Graham Branch 77), Andy Todd, Mo Camara, Luke Chadwick, Paul Weller, Gareth Farrelly (Richard Chaplow 70), Delroy Facey, Robbie Blake, Ian Moore. Subs not used: Lee Roche, Matt O’Neill.
Referee: Flood Warden Andy Hall (Birmingham).