Dave Jones watched his Wolves side produce a result which did little to
enhance their Division One play-off challenge as Watford survived a poor
performance to take a point away from Molineux.
Jones may have settled for a draw with the Hornets before kick-off but his
players left the field knowing the scoreline was less than they deserved having
dominated a one-sided match.
Veteran goalkeeper Alec Chamberlain had kept the visitors in a game they could
have lost by the interval with three wonderful first-half saves which rescued a
shaky Watford back line.
Wolves had been fortunate to escape with a 1-1 draw when the teams turned out
at Vicarage Road in November but the growing confidence around Molineux was
evident during the first 45 minutes.
Chamberlain was almost beaten inside the opening 60 seconds by a Colin Cameron
effort which was heading for the corner of the net until the visiting keeper
diverted the ball past the post with a full-length save.
The chance was a warning to the Watford defence but they were fortunate to
escape again in the 13th minute after a brief spell of pressure from Ray
Lewington's side.
Wolves broke quickly and Cameron, with time and space on the edge of the box,
brought another fantastic parry out of Chamberlain with a rising shot.
The former Hearts midfielder had shaken off a foot injury to make the starting
line-up but he was dictating the play against a team who looked short of ideas.
The hosts were given a scare shortly after, however, when midfielder Allan
Nielsen was left unmarked inside the box to force an alert block from Matt
Murray in the Wolves goal.
But it was a rare chance for the Hornets, who then watched Chamberlain produce
a third good stop to deny George Ndah before Alex Rae lifted an ambitious
25-yard strike into the crowd.
The relentless pressure saw Paul Ince head a dangerous Denis Irwin cross wide
of the post but Ince's involvement was ended shortly after the interval when an
injury forced Jones to replace the midfielder with Keith Andrews.
The substitute produced the only effort on goal in a surprisingly quiet start
to the second half, and his wild free-kick which never looked like troubling
Chamberlain prompted Jones to improve his front line by replacing Rae with Adam
Proudlock.
The change raised the home side immediately, with Paul Butler lifting a
close-range header over the bar and Kenny Miller also missing the target with a
62nd-minute volley before Ndah headed straight into the arms of Chamberlain.
A low parry from Murray kept out Paulo Vernazza at the other end but the home
crowd knew victory was eluding their side when a fabulous shot from Mark Kennedy
curled the wrong side of the post with 10 minutes remaining.
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