HaroldHornet

It looked like as close to a good thing as you can get - backing over 2.5 goals in last night's Watford game at Crystal Palace.

Two teams who let goals in but also know how to score them at the other end. At odds of around 1.9, it was a bet I had to have.

And it won. Great.

Trouble is, it didn't materialise in the way I had hoped. I pictured a Watford win, say 2-1 or even 3-1 (wasn't banking on a clean sheet, we don't do those).

At 1-0 down at half-time, both the bet and my Watford win theory looked a bit rocky. But within 10 minutes of the second half starting we were 2-1 up. And within another 10 minutes we were 3-2 down, and that's how it stayed.

One of those nights when a winning bet meant next to nothing really.

Plus, due to decorating upheaval and a badly-timed phone call for my wife, I was forced to watch the second half unfold on Sky Soccer Special  . . . but with the volume turned off.

So, they crossed from the studio to the reporter at the ground, who was very animated and excited. Except I had no idea about what.

In fact, the only clue I had was the body language of the fans behind him - there was a clear view of the home end over his shoulder, and so I began to work out if they were all standing up, Palace were piling forward. If they were sat down, Watford had the upper hand.

Not a nice experience - watching a game via a reporter without sound or a view of the pitch.

But we're still in mid-table and that's fine. Would just like us to break this losing run. We were third a few weeks ago. There's a long way to slide from third.