Tony Daley enjoyed a happy return to the Second City as Watford kept alive
their play-off hopes with a stunning success at promotion rivals, Birmingham
City.
Daley, who began his career with Birmingham's arch rivals Aston Villa, made
one goal and scored another as Birmingham's automatic promotion hopes were all
but extinguished.
City have taken only two points from the last three games and look destined to
have to be content with a place in the play-offs as all they had to show for
their efforts was a late consolation strike from central defender, David
Holdsworth.
Watford had given a signal of their attacking intentions as early as the third
minute when Peter Kennedy pounced on an error by the Birmingham skipper Martin
O'Connor before firing just wide.
Birmingham were once again without the services of injured strikers Paul
Furlong and Dele Adebola, and were heavily reliant on the new look attack of
on-loan Lee Bradbury and Peter Ndlovu.
Ndlovu was denied in the early stages by the Watford goalkeeper, Alec
Chamberlain, before Birmingham's new £1.2million central defender Holdsworth
failed to hit the target with a close range header.
Bradbury then squandered a golden chance in the 25th minute when he should
have done better with another header.
It was to prove a costly miss by the Crystal Palace striker as Watford stunned
Birmingham by taking a 26th-minute lead.
The goal was especially sweet for Daley, who was booed on his return to the
Second City by the Birmingham fans. But he helped to silence his critics when he
whipped over a left-wing cross.
It was perfectly placed to pick out Tommy Mooney who bravely beat the
Birmingham goalkeeper, Kevin Poole, to the ball and headed home at the far
post.
Birmingham were struggling badly without the physical presence of Adebola and
Furlong, and Daley capped a memorable day for himself when Mooney repaid the
compliment in the 58th minute.
Mooney, once a youngster with Aston Villa, fired over a cross that Daley
powerfully headed home from close range to record his first goal for Watford
following his arrival as a free agent from Wolves last summer.
A frantic finish saw Birmingham score in the 87th minute when Holdsworth
headed home a cross from substitute Howard Forinton but it was too little too
late for Trevor Francis's side.
Teams:
Birmingham: Poole, Bass (McCarthy 61), Charlton (Forster 61),
Hyde, Holdsworth, Johnson, Grainger, O'Connor,
Bradbury (Forinton 69), Hughes, Ndlovu.
Goals: Holdsworth 87.
Watford: Chamberlain, Bazeley, Kennedy, Page, Palmer, Robinson,
Smart, Hazan (Hyde 45), Mooney, Johnson, Daley (Bonnot 79).
Subs Not Used: Ngonge.
Booked: Mooney.
Goals: Mooney 26, Daley 58.
Att: 24,877
Ref: J Kirkby (Sheffield).
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