Obviously a really important win after Saturday's disappointment but it was a game we were in control of for virtually all of it. If a lot of players were below par at Wrexham, then there was a collective effort to step up and perform last night.
The crowd were great too, one of those away games that's full of familiar faces every where but it was positive and supportive from the start. Just the little things too, applauding Hirst on and singing for him make such a difference to the whole vibe.
Important goals for him and Egeli given the narrative around both, and two good finishes. It was good to see Hirst being prepared to shoot after that, although I think he got too carried away remembering the goal at Barnsley as he beat the defender and failed to match that finish.
Egeli has been frustrating, and his celebration suggests that no-one has been more frustrated than he has. It's such a good finish and will hopefully give him more confidence for the run in. I liked Nunez bigging him up as they walked back for the restart, again little things.
Watford had one break in the first half, a couple of long shots and a penalty. The latter was annoying, daft from Furlong albeit with far less contact than the one on Azon a few minutes earlier. Good to see Walton make the save and avoid any nervousness at the end.
I think they were fairly poor, but with some good direct running from their wide players (which was the case last time we were there too) but we also played well to neuter their thread. If DOS was poor on Saturday then the covering run he made to stop that first half break was excellent.
The only criticism would be not taking the chances to wrap the game up sooner, Nunez and Azon in particular were guilty of not hitting the target from good positions at 1-0 and we got into good positions only to fluff a cross - Egeli, Furlong, Matusiwa, at one point all three of those in a row. It would be nice to have Philogene back too, swapping him for Clarke and vice versa midgame is such a potent option.
It was always too much to write us off for the top two after Saturday, there's a long way to go and Boro's stumble last night helps and I'll have to make myself feel dirty by cheering on Sheffield United tonight.
I've been saying for a while that it's up to us if we really want to get promoted then the players are good enough to play the rest of the season more like last night than Wrexham. Hopefully they can continue to show that. |  |
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