McCarthy: Awful start cost us at Watford

Feb 4 2008 By Paul Berry, Birmingham Mail

MICK McCarthy was left lamenting the "awful start" which handed Watford the early initiative.

Not even a minute had elapsed when Wolves failed to deal with Leigh Bromby's long throw and Steve Kabba nipped in to head his first goal in over two years.

Although Wolves rallied to dominate in terms of possession, they never really found a spark at the end of it.

"We made an awful start, to be 1-0 down within 60 seconds is a dreadful start for any team," said boss McCarthy.

"We did it to them last week, and an early goal always makes the opposition have to chase it a bit.

"We were aware of Bromby's threat from throw-ins and should have dealt with it better.

"Having said that, I thought our reaction was terrific, we played really well in the first half.

"Perhaps we didn't pick the pass or the right finish or perhaps they had something to defend, which I thought they did particularly well.

"I thought we were the better side in the first half but it doesn't matter a jot because we lost.

"I don't think the second half's going anywhere, it was fairly open and fairly even, and then we concede from a corner.

"That's not like us, we've dealt with corners and free-kicks particularly well this season."