Watford 1, Bradford City 0; Match Report by Richard Sutcliffe.

On an afternoon where his Bradford City side should have chalked up their first victory of the season, Paul Jewell could have been forgiven for muttering 'Do I not like that'.

The City boss could only watch helplessly as his expensively-assembled side wasted a hatful of chances in the Vicarage Road sunshine in a game they dominated.

Record signing Isaiah Rankin admitted after the game he could have had a hat-trick, while Paul Bolland, Peter Beagrie, Jamie Lawrence and Edinho were also guilty of spurning chances which would have earned City at least a share of the spoils.

In his time as England manager, Graham Taylor could never be counted as being blessed with too much luck. Home draws against Holland and Norway and an unlucky defeat in Rotterdam during the qualifying stages for USA '94 particularly spring to mind - as captured in the now legendary Channel Four documentary about Taylor.

But on Saturday it was his Watford side who rode their luck, although they were certainly helped by woeful City finishing.

The Bantams should have been two goals ahead inside the first eight minutes. First, Rankin superbly beat two defenders in the fifth minute before hitting a 20-yard drive which beat Hornets goalkeeper Alec Chamberlain, only to strike the post and rebound to safety.

Then Lee Mills played a superb pass through to Bolland, who took the ball past two defenders. Unfortunately for the teenager he then scuffed his shot to give Chamberlain a simple save.

These two misses left the 1,000 or so City fans with a distinct feeling of deja-vu, having seen their side squander points through poor finishing last season.

And that is just what happened against Watford where Michel Ngonge's 63rd- minute strike was enough to earn all three points.

The goal was a well-worked affair, with Micah Hyde sending over a superb curled cross for Ngonge to send a bullet header goalwards.

Gary Walsh pulled off a fine block, but could only watch as the ball trickled over the line before Dean Yates followed up to make sure.

And, despite City creating countless chances before and after Ngonge's strike, they were left to rue their poor finishing at the end of an entertaining game.

However, the Bantams could take heart from their impressive approach play against newly-promoted Watford.

They carved open the home defence on several occasions, with their new £2.3 million strike partnership showing plenty of promise.

Rankin's explosive pace and Mills' impressive link-play gave City an exciting added dimension in attack.

This was best illustrated in the 24th minute when Mills won the ball on the right before looking up and seeing his strike partner unmarked in the centre.

The former Port Vale and Derby man curled an exquisite pass round last defender Yates which gave Rankin a clear run at goal. Unfortunately the ball became stuck under his feet - possibly caused by the long grass preferred by Taylor and his Watford side - and the chance was gone.

However, the pair showed enough in their 66 minutes together to suggest that they will enjoy a sensational season together. They were replaced by Edinho and Gareth Grant, who also showed plenty of good touches and opened up the Watford defence several times.

In fact, Grant created City's best chance late in the game, only for Beagrie to blaze over from six yards while stretching for the ball.

And with that went City's hopes of earning their first point of the season and they must now hope that their luck will change tomorrow at Lincoln in their bid to earn a place in the second round of the Worthington Cup.

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