Watford bow to the inevitable

Watford 1 ManCity 1:  It was unfortunate that Ben Foster - Watford's best player this season - should make the mistake that ensured Adrian Boothroyd's team would be relegated to the Coca-Cola Championship.

But had the on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper's under-hit pass not gifted Manchester City striker Darius Vassell the opening goal, and had Watford gone on to win this game, it would have merely delayed the inevitable.

Substitute Tamas Priskin equalised for Watford in the 75th minute, but the painful truth for Boothroyd is that his team have hardly ever looked good enough this season, and their demotion after just one season is a surprise to nobody.

City were as poor as Watford, but the home side - as on so many occasions - lacked the guile to break down the visitors' defence, meaning Stuart Pearce's team did not have to work especially hard to claim a point.

Chances were few in the early stages of the match with neither team able to find the creative spark to unlock the opposition's defence.

Gavin Mahon should have done better than guide a free header wide of the unguarded net in the sixth minute after City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson's punch from Hameur Bouazza's right-wing corner had fallen invitingly for the Watford skipper.

Four minutes later Bouazza was involved again, nodding a long clearance from Foster into the path of King, whose looping header beat Isaksson but dropped comfortably wide of the left post.

Just eight minutes into the second half City were presented with the lead by a terrible Foster mistake.

Collecting a back-pass from Doyley, the recently-capped England international attempted to pass the ball to Powell but could only direct it to Darius Vassell, who guided the ball into the unguarded net from 25 yards.

Foster returns to Manchester United in the summer after two years on loan with Watford, and the travelling City fans took extra pleasure from his error.

Boothroyd's decision to introduce Priskin for Kabba paid off in the 75th minute when the improving forward equalised for the home team. Rinaldi found him in space with a clever pass, and Priskin steadied himself before drilling the ball beyond Isaksson from 15 yards.

Watford came desperately close to scoring the winner when King headed inches wide after Shittu had hooked Bouazza's left-wing cross back into the danger zone.