This was yet another dissappointing performance from Leeds as our form deserts us at just the wrong time. After Becchio's opener two typical defensive lapses allowed Watford to take the lead, and in the end we were thankful that Deeney's own goal at least allowed us to take a point.
After losing the last two games Simon Grayson decided to ring the changes, with Mc.Cartney, Snodgrass, Somma and Johnson all returning to the starting line-up. The first two were returning to the side after injury, but the other two changes were tactical, with Becchio, Bannan, Livermore and Connolly all dropping back to the substitutes' bench. Meanwhile, Paynter wasn't in the squad at all, even though he was available again after suspension.
There was also a change to formation, with Somma and Gradel playing up front in a 4-4-2, but it never really seemed to work out, partly because it doesn't suit Somma to have to play as the main target man and have to hold up the ball with his back to goal. And this pair didn't get much support from the wings, with Snodgrass not looking fully fit and Howson out of position wide on the left. So although Leeds has plenty of possession, we never looked like creating any clear-cut chances, apart from a shot from Kilkenny that wasn't far wide after a corner.
But things did improve towards the end of the half once Snodgrass and Howson had swapped wings, and came close to taking the lead in the 40th minute. Snoddy did well to work an opening on the left, and his cross found Gradel in space in the six yard box, but the Ivorian had to stretch for the ball and could only knock if up onto the bar, while Somma could only put the rebound straight at the keeper. Early in the second half Grayson decided we needed a bit more fire power, so Becchio came on for Kilkenny, with Gradel going wide and Howson returning to his more favoured position in the centre of midfield.
But it was Watford who next came close to taking the lead, when a cross from Graham on the Watford right found Cowie unmarked beyond the far post. Schmiechel was rooted to the spot and could be very thankful that while he could only stand and watch, Cowie's header came back off the post and straight into his arms. The next change saw Somma replaced by Bannan, and it was a free kick from the little man that finally led to Leeds taking the lead in the 70th minute, when Becchio rose above the defence to head home from six yards. We were then treated to the spectacle of a seriously overweight fan running on the pitch and needing ten stewards to drag him off, and possibly causing Leeds to lose the momentum we could have built up after the goal.
A few minutes later Becchio should have doubled our lead when he was sent clear by Johnson, but could only shoot tamely over the bar, possibly thinking that he was offside. And sure enough, our hopes of a valuable win were soon to be dashed by some more of our trademark appaling defending. In the 77th minute a long ball from the left found Hodson completely unmarked, and he accepted the invitation to head the ball into the corner to bring Watford level.
A Leeds desperately tried to get back in front Bannan sent a free kick to the edge of the area and Johnson headed accross the face of the goal, but Gradel couldn't quite get onto the loose ball. Then with five minutes of normal time remaining Becchio picked up an injury and had to hobble off, to be replaced by Mc.Cormack. And it looked like we were going down to defeat when Watford scored in the 86th minute. Graham got through O'Brien's tackle as he made his way into the box before crossing to Weimann, who was able to hammer past Scmeichel from six yards out.
But thankfully we were presented with an equaliser only two minutes later, and once again the danger came from a set-piece delivery from Bannan. This time he sent a corner in to the six yard box and fortunately as Deeney swung his foot at the ball to try to send it clear he could only knock it into the roof of his own net. There was a full five minutes of injury time to be played, but even that wasn't long enough for Leeds to force their way through the Watford defence one more time, and we had to make do with yet another draw.
There was much moaning and groaning on the way out, and this was really a game Leeds had to win, bearing in mind the difficulty of our remaining fixtures. With the results elsewhere being quite favourable we increased our lead over seventh place to two points, but the next game against Reading is now looking crucial and in their current form I fear for what they could do to our shaky defence. Now that we're right into the 'business end' of the season, performances like this just aren't good enough.