M_O_L_E2@hotmail.com visited Vicarage Road on 21/01/2022

Game watched: Watford 0-3 Norwich City

Is it a higher rating because you win emphatically? Not entirely. Friday night under the lights. Big relegation battle, one point separated us prior to play. Went with Tom, always a better experience with somebody you know! Decent but busy away pub around the corner from the ground - the oddfellows. Small on the inside, large outdoor area - compared it to being in the away section. The away end was dry. They also ran out of food pre-game as they didn’t expect the away end to sell out. Madness when Norwich are in town!! The guy gave me two twixes and a bottle of water for free as way of an apology, but then sausage rolls appeared, so got myself one of those and it was bloody lovely! Felt like a proper farmers sausage roll not one of the packet ones. Maybe they got them down from hospitality because of the shortages! We started well, then had to make a change after 20 minutes and they came into for the rest of the half. There were a couple of nasty flashpoints, one of which we saw the red reach to his pocket for a yellow but never saw him book the player amongst the melee. Half time 0-0 Second half then it all came together. Josh Sargent scored with a deft flick. His first league Norwich goal Having previously received some stick for lacking goal scoring threat. Then they go down to 10 men. The same player who we couldn’t work out whether a yellow card had been branded in the first half goes in with another hefty challenge - and gets what transpired to be a second yellow. Then the lights go out - well part of the floodlights anyway. We have a 10+ minute wait for whether the game gets under way. That was around the 60th minute mark. Floodlights stay around 50% but ref waves play on. Sargent then scores again! With a very decent well timed header. We get 15 minutes on the board for injury time. Even with 10 men they are a threat. Then Idah gets to the byline, puts a ball across and it’s 3-0. Cue scenes in the away end - although don’t know which goal was celebrated the most out of the 3 to be honest! The atmosphere in the away end was brilliant from start to finish. Perhaps a real belief following the home win vs Everton. Should say all 3 of the goals went to VAR - I was adamant it wouldn’t go in our favour but was pleasantly surprised. Oh they also scored but it was flagged offside late on and they hit the bar in the dying stages too. I don’t know at this point whether we were out on our feet or had taken the foot off the pedal to not overdo it. Fans stayed in the away end for a good 10-15 minutes after, clapping the lads, chanting for Sargent while he got interviewed by the various broadcasters. Went back to the pub, had a good chat with a couple of Norwich fans who were also staying over - a dad and lad combo, and then with two different Watford fans about it - who took the defeat in good graces and were just genuinely nice people, which gave a good representation of their branding as the original family club. Carried on into town and continued the celebrations! Was a great day, Watford as a place was decent, the ground was easy to get to, the away pub is on the doorstep of the stadium and despite the floodlight troubles, the experience of the entire day and night were top drawer. Helped by an emphatic victory that saw us climb outside the relegation zone for the first time this season.
Overall
5
Atmosphere
3
Location
5
Value for money
5
Pint rating
Not rated
Pie rating
4
Programme
4
Character
4.5
Stewarding
4
Added 22/01/2022