FAMILIARITY often breeds stalemate and such was the case as former Leeds United coach Adrian Boothroyd pitched his Watford side against friend and former colleague Kevin Blackwell.

Clear-cut opportunities in front of goal were rare, influential contributors to the game even rarer. Long before the end, a goalless draw seemed inevitable.

Was this confrontation between teams placed fifth and sixth in the Coca-Cola Championship always going to be a turgid affair? “When you come to a side placed so high in the table, you don’t think about being outrageous,” said Blackwell.

Boothroyd insisted his team were unfortunate not to win, a claim rather hard to substantiate given that Watford did not produce a meaningful shot on target until well into the second half. Leeds can look back on twice hitting the Watford woodwork, curiously enough with the same shot.

Robbie Blake casually slipped a pass to Rob Hulse, clearly in confident striking mood after scoring a hat-trick against Derby County on Wednesday. His right-footed shot from 15 yards could never be classed as vicious but it still managed to hit one upright before rolling across the goalmouth and reaching the other post. Then, to Watford’s relief, full-back James Chambers finally hacked the ball to safety.

“For the ball to hit both posts and not go in was a freak of nature,” lamented Blackwell.

STAR MAN: Frazer Richardson (Leeds)

Player ratings: Watford: Foster 5, Chambers 6, Mackay 5, Doyley 5, Stewart 5, Devlin 6, Mahon 5, Spring 6, McNamee 5 (Grant, 71min, 5), Agbonlahor 5 (Francis 64min, 5), Young 6

Leeds United: Sullivan 6, Kelly 6, Butler 6, Gregan 6, Kilgallon 5, Richardson 7, Douglas 6, Derry 6, Lewis 5 (Pugh 64min, 6), Hulse 6 (Moore 89min, 5), Blake 5 (Healy 52min, 6)

Referee: B Curson

Attendance: 16,050

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