Watford 0 – 0 Bournemouth

Review by Mark Wallington (Twitter: @mark_wallington)

The first football match I took my son to was fifteen years ago at Goodison Park. It was Everton v West Brom and the score was 0-0. The next game we saw was at Derby – another 0-0 scoreline. The third was at Turf Moor between Burnley and Bournemouth, with again, the same score. He said he didn’t want to go any more after that, and I don’t blame him!

When he asked to come with me to Vicarage Road on Saturday we both thought the jinx would have worn off by now, but sadly not. And that’s a shame, because Bournemouth deserved a win here.

The first 60 minutes were pretty dull – no surprise the game got bottom billing on Match of the Day, when the most eye-catching thing on the park was Bournemouth’s pink kit. Statistical evidence informs us that teams wearing red are more likely to win a match. Maybe this was Bournemouth’s original plan, but they went and washed the shirts on colour-fast cottons instead of delicates and ended up with pink. Just shows what a fine line it is between success and failure in the Premier League!

For Bournemouth fans the low point of the first half was the hamstring injury to Stanislas, but this was quickly followed by the high point, as Max Gradel took the field. How good it was to see him gliding down the wing again! He played his part in Bournemouth’s revival in the second half, although the player who can take the most responsibility for that has got to be Andrew Surman.

More statistics! Analysis released this month tell us that Bournemouth have covered the most ground (3060km) of all Premier League clubs so far this season, and Surman has covered the greatest distance (303 km) of any Premier League player. I watched him closely to see if I could spot any sign of tiredness: bags under the eyes, slumped shoulders, stifled yawns. But no, he looks as lean and hungry as he did back in the summer, and as this match entered the last half hour and Watford began to tire, (they’ve covered a mere 2859 kms this season) Surman’s alertness and energy created chance after chance.

Arter sent in a low swerving shot; Ritchie connected neatly with a cross; Gradel, the smallest man on the pitch, got between the centre halves and headed a goalbound effort! These were all good opportunities, but unfortunately – standing like a colossus between the sticks, was Huerelho Gomez.

Gomez must have been dumped by a girl from Bournemouth sometime in his past, had his car stolen there or had a rotten holiday. Something bad must have happened to him! What else can explain why he plays the way he does whenever he meets the Cherries? The man is clearly after revenge.

Back in October at Dean Court he made a number of game-changing stops, including a late penalty save. Again on Saturday he was the difference between the sides: leaping, diving, saving at feet, and always looking twice as big as any Bournemouth attacker. He’s cost us 4 points this season. We’d be mid-table with safety on the horizon if it wasn’t for him.

So, 0-0 it was. I take the blame. If I hadn’t have taken my son along then Bournemouth would have scored three. But maybe I can be tactical here. If I take him to Tottenham in a couple of weeks we’re sure to come away with a point, and we’ll all be happy with that.