"We've got an honest bunch of players and I wouldn't have it any other way."I'm thinking, do I have to ask our lads to dive around and roll around if that's the way the game's going? It's the English game and a blood and thunder derby and you want there to be a few tackles, but for some reason that's gone out of the game."Mackay's goal, which turned out to be the winner, was the beginning of the controversy. Watford won the game in the first 30 minutes through a Darius Henderson volley and a controversial goal from defender Malky Mackay, but what defined the game was the sight of the Watford players rolling on the ground to eat up the minutes. Luton manager Mike Newell stopped himself short when asked if the away side had been cheating: "That's not a word I can use because I don't want to end up in hot water," he said. Substitutes not used: Ward, Agyemang, Hibbert, Anyinsah.Referee: N Miller (Co Durham).. Adrian Boothroyd may be one of the most promising managers in the Football League, but his Watford side won few admirers with a win-at-all-costs performance that stymied Luton Town's attempts to get back into a furious M1 derby. Five minutes later Nugent put the game beyond Norwich, curling home from the edge of the area.Norwich City: Green; Colin (Thorne, 78), Fleming, Doherty, Drury (Henderson, 63), Robinson (Brennan, 45),Charlton, Etuhu, McVeigh, Ashton, Huckerby. Substitutes not used: Ward, Rossi Jarvis.Preston North End: Nash; Alexander, Davis, Mawene, Davidson, Hill,Sedgwick, Nowland (Agyemang, 60), Mears, Nugent (Lucketti, 81), Dichio. Norwich's winning streak was halted in stunning fashion as Billy Davies' play-off chasers extended their unbeaten run to 16 games. The Canaries, who had won their previous five Championship matches, were cut down by goals from Nowland, Graham Alexander and David Nugent.The Norwich manager, Nigel Worthington, made one change, on-loan Carl Robinson stepping in for the suspended Youssef Safri.Preston had Tyrone Mears returning to right-back, Alexander switching to midfield and Danny Dichio preferred to Patrick Agyemang up front.Preston were the first to threaten, Chris Sedgwick and Dichio going close with headers and Alexander's drive from the edge of the area blocked by Gary Doherty.Callum Davidson then clipped a 20-yard shot wide, and the Norwich goalkeeper, Robert Green, held Mears' close-range effortAlexander was next to threaten, rifling the ball over the bar from 20 yards, but Preston made the first-half breakthrough deep into injury time when Nowland shot home from six yards following Alexander's cross.The visitors doubled their lead in the 69th minute when Fleming was controversially adjudged to have handled and Alexander stepped forward to score f the penalty.
Nowland, who scored Preston's first goal, is expected to miss the rest of the season. The former West Ham player sustained a double fracture to his right leg following a crunching challenge from his colleague Dickson Etuhu, currently on loan at Carrow Road. Preston's excellent win over Norwich was tainted by a serious injury to Adam Nowland. Substitutes: Healy, Pugh, Bennett, Richardson, Hulse.Referee: P Taylor (Hertfordshire). Substitutes: Lasley, Aljofree, Derbyshire, McCormick, Djordjic.Leeds United: Sullivan, Kelly, Butler, Kilgallon, Crainey, Lewis, Douglas, Derry, Miller, Cresswell, Blake. Lewis collected a wayward corner on the left-hand edge of the Plymouth penalty area, and Cresswell met the midfielder's drive with a glancing header to put the visitors 1-0 up.The goal gave Leeds some real confidence and Lewis continued to cause the Plymouth defence problems down the left.The visitors went further in front when Lewis showed tremendous pace and determination down the flank before whipping in a superb cross that Blake blasted home from close range.Leeds looked a different side from the disjointed outfit of the first half, and as the game wore on they looked capable of scoring every time they went forward.A late penalty by substitute Hulse, after Mathias Doumbe had upended Liam Miller in the box, made it 3-0 to the visitors.Plymouth Argyle: Larrieu, Connolly, Doumbe, Ward, Barness, Buzsaky, Jarrett, Wotton, Capaldi, Evans, Taylor.
Leeds finally broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute, and unsurprisingly Lewis and Cresswell were involved. Second-half goals from Richard Cresswell, Robbie Blake and a Rob Hulse penalty secured the points for Leeds, but it was Lewis who stole the show.Despite a rousing atmosphere at Home Park, the game struggled to come to life in front of a crowd of just under 18,000, as both sides lacked composure and time on the ball early on.Plymouth midfielder Akos Buzsaky provided some memorable moments of skill, but his final ball was lacking.Scott Taylor, playing in place of the injured Nick Chadwick, had the first real chance of the game for Plymouth, but was unable to control his volley.Plymouth goalkeeper Romain Larrieu, so impressive against Wolves on New Year's Eve, was virtually a spectator in the opening half an hour as Leeds failed to create any chances of note.Lewis nearly created an opening in the 37th minute when he whipped in a splendid cross from the left that Larrieu did well to punch clear under pressure.Leeds began to come into the game more and Cresswell was unlucky not to score with a delightful near-post flick following Lewis' run. After an ordinary first 45 minutes of football, the game came to life in the second period, with Leeds showing just why they have had such an impressive first half of the season. Eddie Lewis was quite superb for the visitors, tormenting the Plymouth defence with some terrific work down the left. Substitutes not used: Kuipers, Cox, Elphick.Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire). Leeds made it four games unbeaten in the Championship with a 3-0 win at Plymouth that keeps the pressure on second-placed Sheffield United. Substitutes not used: Smith, Walcott.Brighton (4-4-2): Chaigneau; El-Abd, McShane, Butters, Lynch; Frutos, Carole (Gatting, 90), Carpenter, Mayo; McCammon, Robinson (Jarrett, 79). This substitution, Burley's third and last, also meant that teenage striker Theo Walcott, admired by a number of Premiership clubs, had no chance to make a goal-scoring appearance.Yet Southampton continued to press for the winner and were rewarded with just four minutes left, when a shot by another impressive youngster, Nathan Dyer, was turned in by Blackstock at the near post.Southampton (4-4-2): Smith; Baird, Kenton (Mills, 67), Hajto, Cranie (Prutton, 63); Dyer, Quashie, Belmadi, Folly; Best (Ormerod, 46), Blackstock.
