10:18am Friday 16th May 2008
By Simon Parker
Sadly even the T&A couldn’t turn it round for Aidy Boothroyd’s Watford.
The Eccleshill-born Hornets boss was hoping to pull off a miracle in the Championship play-offs after losing the home leg 2-0 to Hull.
It looked game over from that point but Boothroyd, one of the most positive fellas to walk the earth, typically refused to concede defeat.
Determined to lift the dressing room for the return leg, Boothroyd’s thoughts went back to 1996 and how his boyhood heroes had overcome a similar two-goal hurdle to triumph away from home and
go through.
So I got a call from Watford on Monday afternoon, pleading for a copy of the report from City’s glory night at Blackpool 12 years ago to be faxed down.
It was dutifully dispatched – and formed a key part of Boothroyd’s pre-match rallying call.
At this point, I would love to state how his pumped-up players roared on to the pitch and pulled Hull to bits.
Well they did, for the first 40 minutes or so, before a goalkeeping howler let Hull equalise Watford’s early strike and effectively kill off the contest.
There was no way back, though the late goals put a gloss on the scoreline.
So Boothroyd is consigned to another year in the Championship and we’ll never be able to use a headline bragging: “It was the T&A wot won it for Watford!”
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