O/T Let's talk Footy.

[loobyloo6]

Accy Staney were still 2-0 up the 88th minute against the League leaders Chesterfield earlier this afternoon...a goal in the 88th minute and an equalizer in the 90+4th minute cost up dearly...we need to play to the final whistle..switched off with 15 mins to go and cost us 2 valuable points.

[loobyloo6]

Back by Popular demand.

I travelled up to Carlsile yesterday to watch the mighty Reds of League 2 strengthen their grip on a play-off position....How wrong was I. It's still a sorry site around the ground with many houses stil empty, Skips full of plasterboard, doors, Skirting borads every 3rd house, Plasterers and Electricians flyers in every wndow, Sad to see.

Carlisle 2 Stanley 0

Brunton Park remains a bogey ground for Accrington Stanley as Carlisle ran out 2-0 winners in the promotion clash.

The Reds have lost on their last five trips to United and goals from Charlie Wyke and Alex Gilliead secured the victory for the Cumbrians.

It was disappointing for John Coleman’s side who felt they should have had a penalty on 80 minutes for a push on Billy Kee to set up a rousing finale but the appeals were waved away.

Former Stanley captain Luke Joyce was injured for Carlisle and the home side had the first chance through Mark Ellis who headed just wide in the 12th minute.

United then had to reshuffle their line-up after 16 minutes when captain Michael Raynes was in a collision with Stanley keeper Ross Etheridge and was stretchered off.

The Reds found their feet around the 20 minute mark with a couple of decent balls into the box and a Sean McConville corner was headed over by Matty Pearson.

However, a soft free kick led to the opener on 27 minutes which had Coleman livid. It was in front of the dug-outs with Alex Gilliead playing the kick short to Brandon Comley who found the head of Ellis at the back post and he passed for Wyke to fire home.

Stanley looked to level the scores with Seamus Conneely playing Shay McCartan through but keeper Mark Gillespie denied him while captain Conneely fired inches wide minutes later.

However it was Carlisle who struck next on 38 minutes when Jabo Ibehre found Wyke who squared for Gilliead eight yards out to slot home the second.

Etheridge held onto Hallam Hope’s low dangerous cross while Alex McQueen hit the bar with a cross/shot in the dying minutes of the first half.

There was a worry over Brad Halliday who needed treatment to a head wound during the half-time break and he was replaced by Liam Wakefield for the second half.

Etheridge denied Carlisle a third after the break when Wyke played in Gilliead and his close range shot was grabbed on the line by the keeper at the second attempt with Ibehre closing in.

Stanley then enjoyed another spell of pressure and came close to getting one back on 62 minutes when McConville’s ball in found the head of Kee but the striker could only direct his header over the bar.

Rommy Boco came on for his third Stanley debut on 68 minutes, replacing McCartan, and Boco and Wakefield both tested Gillespie.

And Stanley were furious when, with ten minutes to go, a shot by Matt Crooks was fumbled by Gillespie and Kee was pushed by McQueen as he rushed to the loose ball with the goal at his mercy – but referee Geoff Eltringham waved away the penalty appeals to the fury of Coleman.

Scott Brown came on for his Stanley debut in injury time but Stanley left empty handed.

[thehornets]

Shame about the result, but what a season for Accy Alex! I went to Carlisle once in the 90s when Watford dropped to the third tier. Long trip for us! So sad what happened with the horrendous weather. Glad they are playing again, but rotten for the local community, and will take a long time to get over it.

More than happy with Watford's season. I have only managed to get to one game, but have seen all but one when we moved last October via live tv or streams. The Pozzos have delivered big time. They said the Prem and a new main stand in 3 years, and delivered. It has taken time to get used to their style of doing business, but they are very shrewd, and have extensive contacts throughout the sport. They had their eye on three players for next season, but with Premier squads being limited to 25, bought them now, and immediately loaned them to their other club Granada. All three will be part of Watford's summer preparations for next season.

The club seems to be well on target for survival in the Premiership which is the obvious goal for any club coming up. It is not easy to compete against existing clubs with money in the bank. Assuming the club does stay up, which I assume it will based on performances against clubs outside the top teams, I am fascinated to see what they do in the summer. They are not afraid to sell players for the right amount of money, so I would not be surprised if a team like United snagged Ighalo or he could go for the big money in China. There seems to be some ludicrous money offers from Chinese clubs these days.

I felt the team played too defensively against Spurs yesterday. Spurs are in awesome form, and steam rollered Watford for most of the game. You cannot play a defensive game against a side like Spurs for 90 minutes plus and hope to get something. 1-0 flattered us. If not for Gomez, it could have been 5 or 6.

Leicester will be our role model. They have achieved what the Pozzos dream about. Fabulous result for them yesterday. Leicester and Spurs are the best two sides to beat Watford this season. The only games where you knew Watford were second best throughout.

Not been sending off many footy requests in the last year or so, but one you may not have seen since I was last on here, was one of my Watford cards signed superbly by Sir Elton. I had seen he was attending a match in Dec 2014, so sent my card via the club.

[loobyloo6]

Accrington Stanley put four goals past Crawley Town in an action packed thriller at the Wham Stadium.

The Reds came back from a goal down at half-time to put the visitors to the sword thanks to goals from Billy Kee, Matty Pearson, Seamus Conneely and Piero Mingoia.

Shay McCartan and Jason Mooney will also be suspended for the match against Carlisle after they both received red cards around the hour mark.

John Coleman’s men were aiming to get back into winning ways after falling to defeat at Carlisle last weekend and that showed in the early stages.

Defender Pearson rose to highest to win Sean McConville’s corner, but his unmarked header looped into the grateful hands of Crawley goalkeeper Paul Jones.

Despite having more of possession in better areas of the pitch, Stanley fell behind halfway through the opening 45 minutes with Gwion Edwards opening the scoring.

A wayward shot by Simon Walton fell kindly for Edwards to turn and shoot well from the edge of the area. The Welshman’s effort took a slight deflection on its way towards the top corner and past Ross Etheridge in the Accrington goal.

Stanley were unable to get back on level terms before the half-time whistle in a frustrating spell of pressure before the break.

Joe Wright went forward in search of a goal but the defender headed his effort straight at Jones from McConville’s cross to the far post.

Whatever Coleman said during the interval seemed to work wonders as a new lease of life swept through the home side and resulted in Kee finding the net.

Brad Halliday and Matt Crooks combined well three minutes after the restart and the latter managed to get a shot away that was poorly dealt with by the Crawley ‘keeper.

Jones’ parry away fell into the path of Kee and the striker tapped home from three yards out for an eleventh goal of the season.

The momentum swung into Stanley’s favour and the Reds started to grow in confidence with every venture forward on goal.

Midfielder Crooks tried his luck again from far out with a low driven effort, but narrowly missed the target with Jones scrambling towards the corner.

A brawl overshadowed part of the second-half as a late tackle from McCartan on Jon Ashton sparked a coming together between both sets of players.

The attacking midfielder was given his marching orders by referee Andy Haines, while substitute goalkeeper Mooney and Crawley’s Walton saw red for their involvements in the disagreement between the sides.

Accrington responded the greater to going down to ten men and found a second goal ten to take the lead for the first time.

Central defender Pearson found himself in the unlikely position of one-on-one with just the goalkeeper to beat, before showing the precision and nerves of a lethal front man to send the home crowd into raptures.

With just minutes remaining, skipper Conneely added more gloss to the scoreline with a low piledriver from 25 yards out.

The midfielder hit a first time effort into the corner to score his first goal of the season and was closely followed by a fourth by Mingoia on the breakaway in the final minute of injury-time.

[thehornets]

Plenty of goals in league two today Alex. Cracking win for Accy, even more so with all the reds, and thrilled to see Piero still doing well for you. Nicely cemented in the play off spots despite stiff competition from a few clubs.

Today's win for Watford was most welcome. I dislike Palarse more than our near neighbours Luton. Great day for Deeney who was a worthy man of the match. The man covers so much ground. When he is not attacking, he is a lionheart defender. Amazing stamina and strength. It was a scrappy game, and could have gone either way, but our front men do know the way to goal. 8th place and 36 points with 12 games to go is a lovely position to be in when you are Watford, started the season with 15 new players, and had only just been promoted. Crazy times!

I will not get to see next week's cup match with Leeds as I am at Walker Stalker.