Watford in danger of losing the one consolation prize that would salvage disappointing campaign

Picture by @YTJourno

A Read Between the Lines

Luton 3-1 Bristol City

This is a season which can't end soon enough for Watford now.

A 1-0 Easter Monday defeat at Portsmouth, which followed the 2-1 Good Friday loss at Vicarage Road to a now promoted Burnley meant the Hornets have only claimed a solitary win from seven matches, while the play-offs faded from view a while ago.

It has not been a total disaster. Watford have been far better on home turf this year compared to last season, when they finished a sickly 15th after losing eight of their 23 games in Herts - winning only six.

But that is the glass half full take. In actual fact they currently have the same number of points (56) as last term because the away form has deteriorated. Among the reverses was a dreadful 3-0 loss at Luton - the sort of result that will have hurt Tom Cleverley and Hornets fans more than most.

So what were the highlights? Undoubtedly the 2-0 win over Luton at the Vic in February felt good. But the opening five wins from five and a rampant 6-2 at Sheffield Wednesday proved misleading.

This term, though, there has been another hope for the season which fans have perhaps been secretly - if not overtly - harbouring : the prospect of their bitter Bedfordshire foes being relegated for the second year running.

It was hard thing to see them somehow claw their way up to the Premier League. Another to see them become the media darlings for their daring, gutsy performances against the elite of the country. All that glowing publicity. It must have felt stomach-churning at times.

But the demotion that followed returned things to normal and the previously saintly leader Rob Edwards - who could do no wrong - was no longer the alchemist.

Then came the hope this year for Watford fans that the Hatters might actually drop straight down again. It's been a delicious prospect for them to cling to, such is the regional animosity.

The free fall that continued for the Hatters under Matt Broomfield seemed to be ushering in an inevitable second successive drop - this time back to the relative obscurity of League One.

Alas for Hornets fans, that not inconsiderable crumb of comfort looks in jeopardy after an Easter full of fight from Luton that carried echoes of the robust, but no-nonsense way they set about teams at Kenilworth Road in the promotion year.

A 1-0 win away to fellow relegation candidates Derby was vital to keep them afloat and they remain in the bottom three even after Easter Monday's gritty 3-1 win against play-off contenders Bristol City.

It was a win that had the stamp of Carlton Morris all over it as he led the line with a bruising display of bullying that inspired those around him.

His goal restored the lead after Thelo Aasgaard's opener soon after half time had been cancelled out by George Tanner fine volleyed equaliser for the Robins. Morris stabbed home from close range after Luton had won a succession of duels in the box and it set the template for the rest of the game.

Isaiah Jones rattled in a third and the Hatters were firmly in control of their destiny - at least on this occasion.

As things stand now in the mother of all relegation dogfights, Luton are on 46 points - level with Derby, but below them on goal difference and still on the wrong side of the dotted line. But with two to play and a wind seemingly in their sails, they will fancy their chances of beating the drop.

Their last two games are at home to another play-off contender - Coventry City - next Saturday lunchtime - and their final game on May 3 is at West Brom, who have now faded out of the promotion picture and have parted company with head coach Tony Mowbray after a 2-1 loss at home to Derby which sealed their fate for this season.

With Preston, Oxford and Hull all within touching distance above them, the Hatters will feel that they still have it in their own hands to get out of trouble.

Watford fans won't be too thrilled to see this particular Great Escape come to fruition. When they saw their rivals go 12 league games without a win at the start of the year - they only avoided defeat in three of them - they must have anticipated the consolation prize of Luton's further demise.

That's looking anything but a given now.