Watford 4, City 2

Mark Lawn may have lost his beard but City slipped out of the FA Cup with their credibility and confidence still in place.

It was no close shave like the joint-chairman enjoyed after the game – though it might have been had Ross Hannah’s late header been allowed to stand.

But there was no disgrace or hint of embarrassment about his club’s third-round exit.

Watford were simply too good and too strong, as they ought to be for a side currently sitting 48 places higher up the league ladder.

They are also one of the Championship’s form teams. Monday’s defeat at Portsmouth was their first in nine games and they had not lost at Vicarage Road since mid-October.

If it was hardly the most glamorous way to go in City’s first third-round appearance in eight years, at least they made the favourites work for their reward.

And you wonder how much closer it could have been if Phil Parkinson had been able to field the talents of David Syers, Simon Ramsden and Kyel Reid.

Hornets boss Sean Dyche, unlike many contemporaries, respected the competition by naming his best possible line-up. Apart from the suspended Scott Loach and a couple of loanees, City were pretty much up against the team that had put together that recent run.

The front two, Marvin Sordell and Troy Deeney, were unchanged from Fratton Park and were the liveliest pair the Bantams will face this season.

On Saturday’s display, it’s easy to see why England under-21 international Sordell is being eyed by several Premier League clubs.

His pace and movement kept City’s back four on red alert throughout. Throw in Mark Yeates on the wing and every Watford attack hinted at danger.

The 1,200 Bantams fans must have feared the worst when the hosts struck within the first three minutes.

Andrew Davies had already blocked from Deeney when Sordell too easily eluded Marcel Seip on City’s right. It was the start of a difficult afternoon for both full backs.

With Seip out of the equation, Sordell could pick his spot with the cross and Deeney outjumped Robbie Threlfall to nod past Jon McLaughlin.

Parkinson was livid on the touchline; his frustration all the more audible because of the absence of any fans in the condemned stand that props up the dugouts.

He said: “You have to be right on your mettle from minute one. If some people don’t start right you’ll get punished and we did.

“The cross came in too easily and we didn’t defend the back stick. I was annoyed that we started so slowly.”

The best City had managed in 11 previous visits to Watford were three draws. It was not an encouraging omen. But within five minutes, they were right back in it beneath the noses of the travelling hordes.

Nyron Nosworthy cleared out a throw-in but Ricky Ravenhill was straight on to it. His blast from the edge of the box was blocked by Carl Dickinson but the rebound fell for James Hanson to thrash his tenth goal into the roof of the net.

What a couple of weeks the big man has had – no wonder Parkinson sniffed at the suggestion of him being on anyone else’s radar during this transfer window.

For the rest of the half, City took on Watford as equals. McLaughlin was called upon a couple of times but his sure-handed approach showed there were no lingering demons from the Don Valley.

But otherwise the League Two visitors were bridging the gulf in class. So much so that Hanson should have headed them in front when he climbed free to meet their first corner from Threlfall.

Then another dozy moment at the wrong end again proved City’s undoing. Threlfall and Ravenhill were drawn into no man’s land by Yeates. His pass from the touchline took both out of the play and Sordell was free in the box.

A neat piece of skill wrong-footed Davies before he fired beneath McLaughlin to send City into half-time chasing the game again.

Parkinson used the break to urge more from his front players, Nahki Wells in particular. The Bermudian had hardly got involved for 45 minutes.

His words struck home and Wells emerged once again the potent threat that has worried league defences in the last few games.

At last he got the chance to run at Watford’s defence and a brief acceleration left Sunderland’s on-loan Nosworthy floudering. The cut-back into the six-yard box begged for a City finish but the ball was scrambled away.

That was as close as the Bantams were to get. Yeates shot wide from John Eustace’s pass as Watford once more upped their game.

Sordell’s cross was frantically palmed away by a stretching McLaughlin but Deeney was straight on to the loose ball. He turned it back into the goal-mouth, Yeates touched on and Craig Forsyth converted from close range.

City had to throw more men forward and paid the price within four minutes. With so many caught upfield, Eustace had acres of room to counter-attack. Craig Fagan tried to bring him down but failed and the Watford skipper was able to get his pass into the path of Forsyth.

The left winger, only back in because Michael Kightly had returned to Wolves, seized the chance with a lavish first-time blast that flew into the top corner. The game was up.

Both sides made changes – Watford resting Yeates and both front two after a job professionally done and Parkinson to ensure that defeat would not turn into humiliation.

He had no need to fear as City raised a late smile by pulling one back. Charlie Taylor produced the best moment of a quiet performance to cross for Wells to nudge in the goal his second-half efforts had earned.

It looked too little too late – until substitute Hannah nodded beyond debutant keeper Jonathan Bond a minute later. But hopes of an unexpected grandstand finish were instantly extinguished by the assistant’s raised flag for a narrow offside.

Parkinson said: “I’m pleased we got that goal at the end because it wasn’t a 4-1 scoreline. It shows the strength we’ve got in the team and the good characters that stood strong.

“We had moments but that’s the difference in quality with the Championship. You get punished and I thought their strikers were very good and clinical.

“Every time they broke, you thought that it could end up in the back of the net because of that extra bit of quality.

“I’m obviously not happy with conceding goals and we need to get that clean-sheet mentality back for next week. But it was a good performance and we certainly did ourselves proud.”

Attendance: 8,935