Derby County missed the chance to move within five points of Championship leaders Middlesbrough after being held to a 2-2 draw with 10-man Watford tonight.
Matej Vydra fired the visitors into a 23rd-minute lead at the iPro Stadium, before Darren Bent equalised from the penalty spot after Marco Motta was sent off on the stroke of half time.
Thomas Ince then curled the Rams ahead early in the second half to complete the comeback, but Odion Ighalo poked the equaliser past Lee Grant with 13 minutes remaining to deny County.
Below, relive the drama as it happened.
Good evening! It's the first week in April, which means it's time to ask these much sought after questions again: a) why don't Cadburys make an Easter version of the Creme Egg and b) who will win promotion into the Premier League?
I can't answer either unfortunately (the first one may be because it increases the risk of heart attack by about seven million percent) but in about two hours time we may have a better idea who is bound for the top flight as Derby County look to revive their stuttering promotion bid by beating high-flying Watford at the iPro Stadium. Let's go.
Unlike a Cadburys easter egg, there's quite a bit to chew on this evening, but let's have a quick look at some team news first, shall we? Why not. Stay tuned my friends.
Derby XI: Grant; Christie, Keogh, Shotton, Forsyth; Thorne, Hughes, Bryson; Ince, Russell, Bent
Watford XI: Gomes, Motta, Cathcart, Angella, Hoban; Layun, Watson, Guedioura; Ighalo; Deeney, Vydra
Derby subs: Roos, Albentosa, Hendrick, Warnock, Ward, Lingard, Martin
Watford subs: Bond, Munari, Tozser, Doyley, Pudil, Anya, Connolly
We'll start with the hosts and I can tell you that Steve McClaren makes just the two changes to his side from the defeat to Wolves prior to the international break. Firstly, Raul Albentosa drops out of defence in favour of Ryan Shotton, while Jesse Lingard drops to the bench as George Thorne comes in. The Rams' attacking trident of Darren Bent, Johnny Russell and Thomas Ince continue up front.
On to the Hornets now and Slavisa Jokanovic also makes two changes from his side's defeat to Ipswich Town, with Gabriele Angella and Matej Vydra coming in for Joel Ekstrand and Daniel Tozser respectively. And that's your lot folks.
Right, so what's the state of play on this Good Friday then? Let's have a look. So Derby, who have not won in any of their last six, dropped to eighth today by virtue of this afternoon's results, but McClaren's side can move back to within five points of leaders Middlesbrough with a much-needed win.
With eight points separating first and eighth place, it's tighter than my auntie's purse strings at Christmas up there at the moment my friends. In the words of that bloke from No Country for Old Men, whose name I can't remember and too lazy to Google, call it!
And there's no lack of incentive for Watford either, by the way, as Jokanovic's side have the chance to move TOP of the Championship with, hmm, six games left, after Bournemouth were held to a 1-1 draw with Ipswich a little earlier. In the words of that famous commentator, whose name I can't remember and too lazy to Google, it's up for grabs.
Prediction: Right, we're about five minutes from kickoff so let's get a pre-match prediction completely wrong, shall we? Why not, and let's go 2-2. I think Derby will show promising signs of a resurgence, but they'll just come up a little short against the high-flying Hornets.
Right, the players are out on the field so kickoff is imminent now folks. Will Derby reinvigorate their promotion bid or will Watford move top? Time will tell my friends.
KICKOFF: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off. Derby, wearing their traditional black and white kit, get us underway. Let's go!
SHOT! Good start by the Rams as George Thorne flashes a shot well over the bar from quite a good bit outside the box. Derby fans in good voice early on. They certainly need a 12th man because, as we spoke about, Watford have won five of their last seven.
YELLOW CARD: Early booking for Ben Watson, who fouls Craig Bryson and Kevin Friend - no friend of Watford so far it must be said - is quick to brandish the yellow.
It's all a little disjointed from Watford, who can't really maintain the ball for long enough to do anything with it. Still, it's very early days of course.
Woeful free kick from Bryson there. Marco Motta stupidly brought down Johnny Russell near the corner flag, allowing Derby the chance to fizz a ball into the box, but Bryson's delivery is rotten and trickles out for a goal kick.
OVER THE BAR: "This is how you deliver a cross," says Miguel Layun, who swings in a fantastic corner but Troy Deeney's header sails harmlessly over the crossbar.
Watford slowly but surely developing a foothold here, but we're yet to see a real goalscoring opportunity in the clash.
CHANCE! What a save this is from Heurelho Gomes. Darren Bent looks certain to score and tapping Thomas Ince's cut-back pass at goal, but the former Spurs keeper gets his trailing leg to keep out Bent's near-post effort.
CLOSE! Thankfully, the game is becoming a little more open now and Odion Ighalo's hopeful strike deflects narrowly wide, with the corner coming to nothing.
Very little to report in the last few minutes, other than Will Hughes's hair is the same colour as Watford's shirt, which could cause clashing issues later on.
GOAL!!!!!!!!!! DERBY 0-1 WATFORD (Vydra)
"We are top of the league," chant the Watford fans as Matej Vydra fires them into a 1-0 lead. It's truly shocking from Cyrus Christie, who loses the ball initially, and fails to clear his lines at the crucial moment as Vydra nips in and volleys past Lee Grant. Shoddy.
CLOSE! What a response this would've been, as Hughes dances around one or two challenges before watching his left-footed shot flash narrowly wide.
DERBY SUB: Unfortunately George Thorne has only lasted 29 minutes on his comeback from injury and he's replaced by Jeff Henderick.
14 minutes until the break then and Watford good value for the one-goal lead it has to be said. Derby probably shading it in terms of possession, but they haven't done anywhere near enough in the final third to merit a goal as of yet. Plenty of time to change that however - and they need to because they're eighth!
Better from Derby, as Bent connects with Hendrick's excellent cross, but it was only a glancing header rather than a thumping one and it was nowhere near the goal.
Substitute Hendrick perhaps slightly lucky to avoid a yellow card after going through Deeney for a shortcut. Already-booked Ben Watson might have something to say about it, having been booked for a lesser challenge I would've said. Eight minutes left in the half.
SAVE! More sloppy play from the hosts almost results in them being 2-0 down, as Hughes is caught in possession by the tenacious Adlène Guedioura, who surges forward before going for a goal with a fierce effort that Lee Grant was able to keep out. I know it's Easter in a few days but some of these Derby lads need to focus on the task at hand.
Derby are finishing the half strongly, as Bent fails to control a Hughes pass that would have seen him go one-on-one with Gomes, while Ince flashes a left-footed shot narrowly wide moments later. Good end to the half by the hosts, but you feel they could easily ship one or two here.
PENALTY TO DERBY & MARCO MOTTA RED CARD!!!!
Is this going to be a watershed moment in the game? Is it a watershed moment in Derby's season? Let's see. Darren Bent is lining the ball up after Motta fouled Russell.
GOAL!!!!!!!!!! DERBY 1-1 WATFORD (BENT)
What a penalty this is, as Bent drills well beyond the reach of Gomes from 12 yards for his eighth Derby goal this year and it's 1-1!
HALF TIME: DERBY COUNTY 1-1 WATFORD
What a truly massive moment that could prove to be in both these team's seasons. Watford were about a minute away from taking a deserved one-goal lead into the break, when former Italy international Marco Motta fouled Johnny Russell, before Darren Bent stepped up to the spot and emphatically cancelled out Matej Vydra's earlier opener.
Slavisa Jokanovic will be furious. Just a few minutes ago his side were cruising toward the summit with six games to play - now they're staring down the barrel and will do very well to defy their numerical disadvantage and leave here with a point.
RESTART: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back in action my friends. 10-man Watford get us underway and it looks like there's one or two subs to tell you about. Bear with me.
Yep, one change apiece at the break. Jesse Lingard replaces right-back Cyrus Christie, while Daniel Tozser comes in for goalscorer Vydra.
CHANCE! Really good link-up play between Ince and second-half sub Lingard nearly puts Derby ahead when the latter's cut-back was diverted goalward by Craig Cathcart, but it trickled narrowly wide. Might be a long 40 minutes for the Londoners.
CLOSE! Hmm, Watford go close themselves with a couple of effort. First, Grant was forced to palm away Tozser's header, before Deeney drilled narrowly wide a moment later. That'll give Derby something to think about. This one is far from over, my friends.
The tempo has been sucked out of this one in recent minutes. Derby still well in control, but in these early stages it looks as if they may be experiencing the same creativity issues that we saw in the first half.
YELLOW CARD: Craig Bryson goes into the book now and it's 1-1 in the yellow card stakes, with Ben Watson booked for the visitors.
GOAL!!!!!!!!!! DERBY 2-1 WATFORD (THOMAS INCE)
Excellent from Ince, who fires Derby ahead with a combination of luck and brilliance. The Hull City loanee cuts inside Watson brilliantly before getting a little fortune with retaining the ball and curling beyond Gomes from inside the box. Top finish, and some lovely skill in between.
In the standings, what that goal means is that Derby move fifth again and go back to within three points of leaders Middlesbrough. Ridiculously tight up there.
SUB: Watford make their second change now as Layun makes way for Ikechi Anya. Is he the man to inspire 10-man Watford to a point? Probably not but time will tell.
YELLOW CARD: Deeney has cut a frustrated figure in this second half and the Watford forward lets his emotions get the better of him as he's booked for a foul on Ryan Shotton.
SHOT! You get the feeling that Derby might just need a third goal, and they nearly get one when Russell fires narrowly wide of Gomes's near post. I say they may need a third because, well, they haven't looked exactly solid at the back this evening.
Roughly 20 minutes of normal time left to play then and as it stands Derby are going back to within three points of leaders Middlesbrough thanks to goals from Darren Bent and Thomas Ince. But can they keep the lead? Probably, but stranger things have happened.
Watford aren't out of this but they need to do more. It's difficult with 10 men, sure, but they're enjoying decent spells of possession in the final third and should be doing more.
GOAL!!!!!!!! DERBY 2-2 WATFORD (Ighalo)
We said it, didn't we? Derby needed a third and they've been made pay by Odion Ighalo, who latches on to Adlène Guedioura's superb low cross before poking past Grant. Amazing.
SUBS: Derby's response is to throw on Chris Martin for Craig Bryson for the last 15 minutes or so, while David Connolly comes on for Watford. Neither manager has a sub left so let's see what happens ladies and gents.
CHANCE!!! Oh Ince might've done better here. He picks up Hughes's incisive pass in the middle of the box, before spinning his marker and blazing well over from a really good position. Derby in control but they've not got long.
It's very much gung-ho from the Rams as you might expect as the hosts throw the kitchen sink at Watford in a bid to force an equaliser, but the Hornets, to their credit, are standing up well to all the questions being asked of them.
Angella is a little lucky here. He tries to shepherd a ball out of play but Russell picks his pocket before playing it back into the area, but Cathcart was on hand to thrash away and concede a corner, which came to nothing. Four minutes of normal time to go.
We'l have a decent bit of stoppage time because there's a lengthy break in play here following a clash of heads between Matt Connolly and Ryan Shotton.
SIX MINUTES ADDED ON:
The Rams have roughly three minutes to nick a winner or Watford are going to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat.
CHANCE! Watford hearts in mouths as Ince delivers a brilliant ball that Gomes can only flap at, and it lands at the feet of a Derby player but Connolly gets it away in the nick of time. Will we see late drama?
SAVE!!!! What a save from Heurelho Gomes, who tips over Richard Keogh's last-gasp header to preserve Watford a point.
Full time: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand that's it. Watford miss the chance to go top but it could've been worse for them, having played for 45 minutes with 10 men after Marco Motta was sent off on the stroke of half time.
What now for Derby, who are now SEVEN games without a win. Anywho, thanks for joining Sports Mole's live text commentary of the clash. Hopefully you've enjoyed the drama as much as I have and we'll see you tomorrow because the Premier League is back! Take it easy folks.
Written by
Shane Callaghan
Shane Callaghan
