Watford 3 Middlesbrough 1
Sep 27 2010 The Journal
GORDON Strachan said Middlesbrough must learn to deal with disaster after his sorry side were pole-axed by a 17-second stunner at Vicarage Road.
The travel-sick Teessiders leaked the nightmare opener after a sloppy back-pass from David Wheater gifted former Riverside striker Danny Graham a quickfire goal on a plate and set up a comfortable 3-1 win for in-form Watford.
The costly early error from the normally rock solid Redcar-born defender sparked a Middlesbrough meltdown, and in a chaotic 20-minute spell at the back they conceded two more cheap goals to the high-flying Hornets as Jordan Mutch and Graham again hit the target.
And although Boro rallied after the break and eventually clawed one back through a late Adrian Mariappa own goal it was scant consolation for yet another nightmare on the road.
Boro have won three in a row at home but they have taken just one meagre point and scored that solitary goal in four away games this season – a poor return which has left the pre-season favourites languishing in the bottom half.
Strachan admitted his fragile side completely failed to respond to the self-inflicted wound straight from kick-off.
“It was a stunner to concede after just 17 seconds but it is how you deal with that mistake that counts,” he said.
“It was only the first minute. We had plenty of time to come back from that and we didn’t deal with that at all.
“We had a bad 20 minutes. We let that affect us, that 17 seconds. You can’t, as a group, let something like that affect you, that’s for sure.”
Asked why the lightning strike had thrown his players out of their stride, Strachan admitted: “I have no idea.
“Watford are an energetic team at the best of times and that start gave them a wee bit more energy.
“We all go behind in games, whether it’s early, late or whatever, but you still have to react to that and we didn’t react well to that at all.
“Funnily enough, in between the goals, we had some smashing efforts ourselves. The game wasn’t a big, big problem as such, but they made our back four defend and, as you can see, they got three goals so we didn’t defend too well.”
Boro had got off to a flier themselves in their previous outing, Barry Robson getting the fastest ever goal at the Riverside after just 24 seconds in a 3-1 win over Reading, but the boot was on the other foot at Vicarage Road. A Julio Arca header dropped to the edge of the box and Wheater collected calmly, but without looking up he played a disastrous back pass which Gateshead-born former team-mate Graham latched on to, before rounding keeper Jason Steele and slotting into an empty net.
With Boro in disarray, Watford snatched a second on 11 minutes when Robson only half headed clear a Don Cowie corner and it fell to the edge of the box where the lurking Mutch slammed home a low deflected piledriver. Graham’s second goal on 20 minutes all but sealed the game.
Boro gradually stopped the rot and battled back to win a series of free-kicks which were squandered.
After chances for Arca and Robson, persistent Boro fashioned a consolation goal on 80 minutes. Scott McDonald’s angled shot was parried by the keeper and looped high into the air, with Mariappa heading into his own net from close range under pressure from Kris Boyd.
WATFORD: Loach; Hodson, Martin Taylor, Mariappa, Doyley, Eustace, Cowie, Buckley (McGinn 65), Mutch, Graham (Walker 85), Sordell (Deeney 73). Subs (not used): Gilmartin, Bryan, Whichelow, Oshodi.
Booked: Hodson, Loach.
Goals: Graham 1, Mutch 11, Graham 20.
MIDDLESBROUGH: Steele; Bates (McMahon 55), Wheater, McManus, Arca, Tavares, Halliday (Boyd 46), O’Neil, Robson, McDonald, Lita (Kink 66). Subs (not used): Coyne, Bailey, Luke Williams, Hines.
Goal: Mariappa 80 og.
Attendance: 12,185.
Referee: Fred Graham (Essex).
