Raging Fever 5 Watford 3

Fever gained revenge for a 4-1 reverse earlier in the season as braces for Thom Airs and Dickon Ceadel saw the Oxford side record a 5-3 victory on a blustery morning in Horspath.

Attacking into the strong wind in the first half, Fever made a bright start. The conditions forced the men in yellow to keep the ball on the ground, proving conducive to attractive, attacking football.

In the meeting between these two sides earlier in the season, Watford had raced into an early lead. This time, it was Fever's turn to catch their opponents cold. George Dugdale's pass down the line looked to have been overhit but was quickly halted by the wind for Airs to run free. The striker's cut-back was met by the onrushing Dan Pear who calmly rolled the ball into the corner of the net. The perfect start.

Fever only maintained their lead due to the vigilance of James Longshaw, who remained on the line to head clear after a header from a corner looped goalwards. A lesson learned from previous weeks?

The lead was doubled soon after as Airs was released on the left edge of the penalty area, before firing a left-footed shot under the body of the Watford goalkeeper into the bottom right corner of the net. Fever rumour has it that the striker can't finish. This would only be the first of Airs' responses to that particular criticism…

Moments before the traditional half hour substitutions, Fever were three goals to the good. Having been awarded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, Ceadel brushed himself down before strolling into the penalty area. Despite shouting instructions to Pear as to where he wanted the free-kick delivered and confirmation that the order had been received via his coconspirator's pointing, Watford decided the best plan of action was to not mark Ceadel at all. Somewhat predictably, Pear whipped the ball into the previously agreed area, where Ceadel was waiting to prod home from a yard out. Football really is quite easy sometimes.

As often happens, Fever lost some of their momentum when the substitutions were made, with Watford capitalising to test Paul Soper in the Fever goal for the first time. The nippy striker who had caused so many problems in the previous fixture had entered the fray for Watford and was soon jinking through the Fever backline, only to be denied by Soper's sprawling save. Moments later, Soper was tested from an unusual source. A long punt forward by the Watford goalkeeper gathered pace and height on the wind and required a firm hand to see it around the post.

Shortly before the interval, however, Watford had their goal. Fever misjudged the ball on the wind, allowing their speedy nemesis to race clear and slot past Soper.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, Fever were confident of extending their lead. The fourth only took a few minutes to come. Watford were now forced to contend with the wind carrying the ball over their defence and miscommunication led to goalkeeper and defender colliding head on. As the ball ran wide, Airs remained calm to slot home from an acute angle.

However, Watford were not giving up and got their second goal after a period of sloppy football by Fever. Inexplicably, Watford cleared from a Fever attack and suddenly found themselves four on one. Nick Holloway did well to push the attack wide but was powerless to prevent a free header as the cross came into the box. As Watford raced back to their own half, confident of getting back into the game, Fever were left to debate quite where the rest of the defence had disappeared to.

Moments later, Dugdale was denied by a fine save by Watford's goalkeeper. The visitors had swapped goalkeepers at half-time and reaped the rewards as the new man back-pedalled to tip the winger's dipping effort over the bar. Dickon Ceadel then missed a glorious opportunity to double his tally, heading over a Pear corner from close-range. With the wind as it was, the ball ended up some 70 yards behind the goal.

It wouldn't take long for the midfielder to redeem himself. Theo Dominian did well to dig a cross out as he was outnumbered in the corner and Watford's clearance fell to Ceadel who volleyed into the corner of the net to restore Fever's 3 goal advantage.

Fever continued to struggle playing with the wind at their backs, not learning that long balls were resulting in goal kicks rather than completed passes. The inability to retain possession soon counted against the home side as Watford's guest striker