Daily Mirror
WEBBER'S FEAT HAS HORNETS BUZZING
By Aidan Magee
DANNY WEBBER scored twice as Watford gave QPR a harsh lesson in stepping up a level last night. Newly-promoted QPR were ripped apart at Vicarage Road as former Manchester United star Webber displayed some clinical finishing. A year ago to the day his close pal Jimmy Davis, who had not yet started his loan spell from United to Watford, was killed in a road accident which deeply affected Webber's first year at the Hornets. But last night his two goals, and another by Bruce Dyer, left Rangers boss Ian Holloway with plenty to do to make his side Championship standard. Rangers had the better of the opening exchanges and Kevin Gallen went through in the eighth minute only to see his effort blocked by Neil Cox. But they fell behind four minutes later when they failed to deal with Neal Ardley's long punt from midfield. The ball dropped over the Rangers back line and keeper Chris Day was hesitant before Webber rounded him and scored despite George Santos' best efforts on the line. Webber almost added a second in the 20th minute. He turned well on the edge of the box but sliced his shot horribly wide. Rangers looked to have equalised in the 36th minute when Kevin McLeod shot home following a mistake by keeper Richard Lee. However, McLeod's celebrations were cut short when referee Tony Bates ruled the keeper had been pushed before he dropped the ball. The Hornets doubled their lead three minutes into first-half injury time when Paul Devlin's cross was headed in from close range by Dyer. In the second half, Holloway made three changes as he introduced former Watford players Paul Furlong and Lee Cook as well as Marcus Bean to the action with little effect. But there was no stopping Webber and he added his second goal in the 59th minute when he got through and finished well after his first effort hit the post. |
The Times
Webber picks apart QPR's ambitions
By Tom Dart
INCESSANT drizzle, dubious refereeing, a manager rebuking his underachieving players and then claiming that they were tired; the season is too young for results to assume much meaning but its familiar patterns and rituals are taking root. Queens Park Rangers were shredded last night at Vicarage Road by the pace and confidence of Danny Webber, the Watford forward, and for what it is worth — which, in the second week of August, is virtually nothing — the home side rose to the top of the Coca-Cola Championship. For a day at any rate.
The dark, rainy sky gave the summer’s evening an autumnal feel and a sense of incongruity was also evident on the pitch, where QPR’s newly-promoted players looked ill at ease performing at a higher level.
Ian Holloway, the QPR manager, said that they seemed weary after playing in Saturday’s heat. Watford finished only six points clear of the relegation zone last season and QPR were so ordinary yesterday that it is impossible to tell, on this evidence, whether the Hertfordshire side are set for a better campaign.
Webber scored twice and might have doubled his tally. The 22-year-old had a difficult time last year, in part because of the death of his close friend, Jimmy Davis, who also joined Watford from Manchester United and who died in a car crash a year ago. "He knows he’s capable of scoring lots of goals, he’s got the will to do it and he will always cause problems for teams," Ray Lewington, the Watford manager, said.
QPR helped Webber out with some slack defending that allowed him too much space. He twice rounded Chris Day, the QPR goalkeeper, to score the opening goal in the thirteenth minute and the third in the 58th.
"I’ve just learnt my team aren’t as good at doing what they should be doing as I thought," Holloway said. His frustrations were exacerbated by a touchline ban that forced him to watch from the stands — "I felt like a leper," Holloway said — and also by the performance of Tony Bates, the referee.
"My team got a lot more wrong than he did," Holloway said but Bates did rule against QPR on two crucial occasions. First, Kevin McLeod had the ball in the net but that would-be equaliser was ruled out for a supposed foul on Richard Lee, the Watford goalkeeper.
"Absolute crazy decision, I felt," Holloway said. Just before half-time Bruce Dyer, who looked offside, made it 2-0 with a header.
WATFORD (4-4-2): R Lee — J Chambers, N Cox, S Dyche, P Mayo — P Devlin, B Gunnarsson, G Mahon, N Ardley (sub: A Young, 79min) — B Dyer (sub: H Helguson, 65), D Webber (sub: H Bouazza, 89). Substitutes not used: A Chamberlain, J Darlington. Booked: Mahon, Cox.
QUEENS PARK RANGERS (4-4-2): C Day — M Bignot, A Gnohere, G Santos (sub: M Bean, 46), G Padula — M Rowlands (sub: L Cook, 63), R Johnson, M Rose, K McLeod (sub: P Furlong, 46) — A Thorpe, K Gallen. Substitutes not used: G Ainsworth, J Cole. Booked: McLeod, Rowlands.
Referee: A Bates.
Watford’s Local Newspaper
Danny sizzles as top-of-the-table Hornets leave Cook to stew
By Marc Dodd
IT may be a brief stay, but Watford's visit to the top of the Coca Cola Championship will nevertheless be sweet after a Danny Webber-inspired Hornets eased past toothless QPR 3-0 at Vicarage Road.
Webber became the first Watford player to score a brace in over a season as a rampant Hornets were simply too fast, too strong and too hungry for their west London rivals.
Webber deservedly received a raucous applause when he went off two minutes from time. Compare this to Lee Cook, returning to Vicarage Road for the first time since his summer move to Loftus Road. Booed throughout by the Watford fans, Cook endured a torrid 30 minute cameo before disconsolately trudging off the pitch.
Cook was by no means the worst player in what was a dismal Rangers showing though, and on this evidence it is the Hoops, not Ray Lewington's men, who will be scrambling for safety this season.
Bruce Dyer also got on the score-sheet to round off a perfect evening, while James Chambers, signed on a month's loan deal earlier in the day from West Bromwich Albion, made a highly impressive debut at right-back, and looks to be a real acquisition.
Despite pre-match worries about their fitness, Neal Ardley and Brynar Gunnarsson were named in the starting line-up. However, Lewington pulled off something of a surprise by throwing Chambers straight into the side. Surprisingly, Jack Smith was not even on the bench, with new signing Jermaine Darlington coming into the 16.
QPR boss Ian Holloway could have named four former Hornets in his starting line-up, but opted for only two in Chris Day and Richard Johnson in a team that showed three changes from the side that drew 1-1 at home to Rotherham United at the weekend.
Kevin McLeod, Georges Santos and ex-Luton Town front man Tony Thorpe were included at the expense of Gareth Ainsworth, Marcus Bean and Vicarage Road old boy Paul Furlong, while the most recent Watford departee, Cook, was on the bench.
It was the visitors who were first to threaten, forcing two early corners before, at the other end, Webber was unfortunate not to latch on to a Dyer flick-on.
Neil Cox was forced into a last-ditch tackle on Kevin Gallen on nine minutes when referee Tony Bates allowed play to continue after what looked like a foul on Ardley but, two minutes later, the Hornets opened the scoring.
Ardley won the ball ten yards inside his own half and lofted the ball over the Rangers defence for Webber to run on to, round a hesitant Day and slot the ball home, despite the best efforts of Santos on the line.
The former Manchester United striker nearly doubled the lead moments later, turning Santos in the box after a clever Dyer dummy from a Mahon through-ball, but he blazed over with only Day to beat.
Webber, causing the Rangers defence all sorts of problems, then forced Day into a sharp save low to his left after a snap-shot from just inside the box following Dyer's lay-off.
By now, Watford were in complete control and, after a fine flowing move down the left, Dyer and Webber combined superbly again on 30 min but Dyer failed to control the return pass and the chance was lost.
However, Watford did have a let-off on 35 minutes. Marcus Bignot's floated ball into the box looked harmless enough but Richard Lee, under negligible pressure from Mcleod, dropped the ball, allowing the Rangers midfielder to roll into an empty net before referee Bates saved the Hornets goalkeeper's blushes by awarding the foul.
The visitors did start to threaten towards the tail-end of the half, but the impressive Chambers twice did well to deny Thorpe, before the rampant Hornets broke immediately only for Day, at full stretch, to parry Webber's goal-bound effort low to his right.
Crucially though, Watford did grab a second a minute into injury time. Ardley's corner was dragged back to Mahon, who instantly played in Devlin down the right; the Scottish international's perfect cross bounced once before Dyer stooped low to head home at the far post.
Half-time: Watford 2 QPR 0 Again, QPR were quicker out of the blocks as the second-half kicked off, and Watford survived an early scare when Paul Furlong's goal-bound header was deflected into the side netting by Chambers.
Watford were quick to regain control though, and Webber almost found himself clean through after some sharp passing in midfield between Mahon and Gunnarsson.
It was no surprise then, when, on 58 minutes, Watford sealed the three points. Cox's clearing header evaded the Rangers defence and, in a near carbon-copy to the first goal, Webber rounded Day, and although his initial effort struck the left-hand post, he showed great poise to collect the rebound and slot home with his left foot from a tight angle.
Helguson - on for Dyer - nearly announced his arrival in style when he flashed a half-volley wide of Day's left-hand post.
At the other end, a dismal Rangers rarely threatened. Mayo nearly took his own keeper by surprise, heading behind Padula's inswinging free-kick, as the visitors resorted to the route-one ball.
Webber was only denied his hat-trick when Day blocked a volley from a Helguson flick-on. His replacement, Hameur Bouazza, continued where Webber had left off, using his pace to leave a bemused Bean for dead before dragging his shot wide. The young Frenchman then headed over a Devlin cross from the right.
Watford: Lee; Chambers, Cox, Dyche, Mayo; Devlin, Gunnarsson, Mahon, Ardley; Webber, Dyer. Substitutes: Helguson for Dyer (64); Young for Ardley (78); Bouazza for Webber (88).
QPR: Day; Bignot, Santos, Gnohere, Padula; Rowlands, Johnson, Rose, McLeod; Gallen, Thorpe. Substitutes: Bean and Furlong for Santos and McLeod (45 mins); Cook for Rowlands (62).
Bookings: Mahon (42) for a foul on Santos; Rowlands for a foul on Mayo; Cox for a foul on Thorpe (66).
Attendance: 14,737 (3,125 QPR contingent)
Referee: Tony Bates (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs).
Evening Standard
Razor-sharp Webber has the fizz
By Wayne Veysey,
Ray Lewington today insisted that Danny Webber is capable of taking the Coca-Cola Championship by storm this season.
The Watford striker tore Queens Park Rangers apart last night in a deserved 3-0 win at Vicarage Road, scoring twice and causing mayhem every time he got behind a statuesque Rangers defence.
Manager Lewington believes it could be a turning point in the career of the 22-year-old, who opened the scoring in the 12th minute and completed his double on the hour.
He said: "Last year was a tough year for him for lots of reasons but now he's looking like he was two years ago when he first came to the club.
"Danny could have had four or five. He's looking razorsharp at the moment. We hate to set targets because it puts pressure on him.
"But he's got the will to score goals and he's not frightened to miss. He is clever, has pace and can play in small spaces or big spaces behind the defence.
"When you've got someone like that it's hard to defend against. He will always cause teams problems."
Webber's strike partner Bruce Dyer, who scored the second goal with a 45th-minute header, was a constant threat and Watford were also indebted to central midfielders Brynjar Gunnarsson and Gavin Mahon, who denied QPR any space or time on the ball.
Ian Holloway, who made four changes from the Rangers side who drew on Saturday, recently attended an anger management course to help cope with the pressures of his job.
But it would have been expecting too much for him not to defy his touchline ban and storm out of his seat to remonstrate with the officials when referee Tony Bates disallowed a perfectly legitimate Kevin McLeod goal in the first half.
"We needed a decision there and it might have settled us down," said Holloway. "I won't be sending the ref a Christmas card. It was so blatant, and the second goal was offside.
"But I didn't expect my team to defend like that. I thought some of my lads looked dead on their legs. We didn't get anywhere near them.
"We will be back in training today. We will rehearse, rehearse and rehearse."
However, Lewington was delighted with Watford's performance.
He said: "It was important to get three points and I was pleased with the manner of the win. If we can maintain that we'll cause people problems."
For 24 hours at least, Watford are top of the Championship.