Lancashire | Hard-fought point for Preston away at Watford

Watford 1 - 1 Preston North End

Watford were unable to break down a resolute Preston side as the two played out a fairly entertaining draw.

Author | Andrew Montgomery 

Stadium | Vicarage Road

A lively contest in which both teams carved out clear openings finished level after Daniel Jebbison struck for the visitors and Mamadou Doumbia replied in first-half added time.

Paul Heckingbottom’s Preston remain fifth, three points adrift of Stoke City in the second automatic promotion place. Watford slip to 12th but can draw encouragement from an unbeaten November that leaves them only two points outside the play-off positions.

A closer analysis of what happened

The hosts should have been ahead inside six minutes when Edo Kayembe smashed a shot against the post from the right, with Luca Kjerrumgaard lifting the rebound over from close range.

Preston punished that wastefulness when Jebbison finished confidently after latching onto a well-weighted pass from Lewis Dobbin.

It was a composed strike and a frustrating one for the home crowd given the forward’s six goalless months on loan at Watford from Bournemouth last season.

Their frustration eased on the stroke of half-time when Doumbia levelled. Marc Bola’s cross from the left clipped the post with Daniel Iverson scrambling and when Preston failed to fully clear, Watford worked the ball neatly through Jeremy Ngakia, Kayembe and Imran Louza. Ngakia’s low cutback found Doumbia, whose effort took a slight touch off Jordan Storey on its way in.

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Preston captain Liam Lindsay saw a powerful header pushed onto the upright by Nathan Baxter after meeting a fine cross from Jamal Lewis.

Jebbison was then denied a second by Matthew Pollock, who slid in with an impeccably timed block just as the striker shaped to shoot.

But it was Watford who applied the greater pressure late on. Louza twice found space on the edge of the area but sent both efforts well wide.

Their final hope came when Nestory Irankunda went to ground under a challenge from Pol Valentin, only for the referee to book him for simulation.