Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd demanded an improvement from referee Phil Dowd after a controversial penalty saw his side slip to a 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace.

Hornets striker Darius Henderson had scored in the second half to bring his team level after Darren Ward had given Palace a 17th-minute lead, and at that stage Watford looked the more likely winners.

But 19 minutes from time, Andrew Johnson's spot-kick won it for Palace after Clarke Carlisle was harshly adjudged to have pulled back Clinton Morrison - a decision that left Boothroyd furious.

"He got it wrong," Boothroyd said. "I have seen it again, and it was never a penalty. Clarke made a fair challenge - which is why I was so irate.

"I asked Phil to look at it again, because I'm hoping that if he referees one of our matches again, he will have improved his decision-making.

"Hopefully then other managers will not become irritated and lose points. I'm not just talking about the penalty decision, because there were a few that went against us."

Not surprisingly, Palace chief Iain Dowie saw the incident completely differently from his Watford counterpart.

Although Palace are still below fourth-placed Watford, this was their third successive Coca-Cola Championship triumph and brought them to within two points of Boothroyd's team.

Dowie said: "It was a penalty. Clinton had his shirt pulled by Clarke Carlisle. A lot of penalty decisions have gone against us this season, so it was nice to get one.

"We should have been more than one goal ahead at half-time, because we knew they would rally in the second half. But we dealt well with Watford's direct style of play, and we looked strong."

Despite a defeat that means Watford have won only one of their last eight matches, Boothroyd was not too downhearted at the outcome.

Exciting young forward Ashley Young made a successful comeback as a substitute after nearly a month out with an ankle injury, which increases Boothroyd's options ahead of the match at local rivals Luton on Monday.

Boothroyd continued: "Ashley brought a lot of energy into the team. He will make and score goals for us.

"In the second half, we overran a team like Crystal Palace, and we lost only because one or two things did not go in our favour.

"So we can't be too disheartened, because Palace are a good team who will be up there at the end of the season."

Dowie remains confident that his team can seize one of the two automatic promotion spots, even though he admits they "have a mountain to climb".

"We can't take our eye off the ball, but we have the right work ethic and that's showed in our recent results," he added.