Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Vicarage Road Stadium
Attendance: 12597
Referee: Williamson, I

Live Commentary

90mins

The ref has blown his whistle for full time.

82mins

Preston are replacing Callum Davidson with Claude Davis.

79mins

Watford are replacing Jordan Stewart with Hameur Bouazza.

78mins

Youl Mawene is booked for unsporting behaviour.

75mins

Brian O'Neil is replaced by David Jones.

70mins

Preston are replacing David Nugent with Patrick Agyemang.

60mins

Watford are replacing Anthony McNamee with James Chambers.

59mins

Ashley Young is booked for dissent.

53mins

Alhassan Bangura goes into the referees book for unsporting behaviour.

46mins

The second half is under way with the score currently at 1 v 2.

45mins

Half time whistle is blown by I Williamson

37mins

Goal!! Preston have scored with Dickson Etuhu putting it in the back of the net.

22mins

Goal!! Preston have scored with David Nugent putting it in the back of the net.

9mins

Goal!! Darius Henderson scores for Watford.

3mins

Callum Davidson is booked for unsporting behaviour.

0mins

The ref has blown his whistle and the match has started.

Match Report

New look Watford will be looking for an improvement on the training ground after conceding two preventable goals that allowed beaten play-off finalists Preston to claim a 2-1 victory at Vicarage Road.

Hornets boss Adrian Boothroyd fielded five of his summer signings, including striker Darius Henderson and defender Clarke Carlisle, both of whom arrived at the club in the 48 hours prior to the game.

But Henderson got his Hornets career off to the perfect start when he connected with an Ashley Young cross after nine minutes and guided a simple header past Carlo Nash.

On the 22-minute mark the visitors levelled after some poor defending from the Hornets. Jordan Stewart was turned far too easily by Chris Sedgwick and he slipped a pass through to Dave Nugent.

The striker, who is one of the rising stars of the Championship, attacked a retreating Hornets defence before striking a low right-footed shot that caught Ben Foster totally unawares, although the keeper may have been unsighted.

Stewart also had to shoulder a large share of the blame for what was to turn out to be Preston's winner after 37 minutes. The former Leicester midfielder, playing at left-back was shaken off the ball with ease by Dickson Etuhu who advanced into the Watford box before slamming a shot past Foster.

After a lively and enjoyable first half more goals looked inevitable in the second period. But the game became a scrappy affair, punctuated by the award of numerous free-kicks by referee Iain Williamson.

Watford rarely looked like they would find a way through and equalise, although substitute Hameur Bouazza should have done better with four minutes left when he headed over from six yards out following a Lloyd Doyley long throw.

Preston always looked capable of upping their game if necessary, but the closest they came to adding to their tally was late on when Paul McKenna was released in the area only to shoot straight at Foster.

The defeat brought more disappointment for the Watford fans, who only saw their side win five of their 23 home league games last season.

Watford Team

Preston North End Team

Watford

Preston North End

Corners

Fouls

Goal attempts

Shots off target

Offsides