Ormerod and Beattie were well policed by Neil Cox and Gayle while Fabrice Fernandes whose wing trickery was a refreshing respite from

Ormerod and Beattie were well policed by Neil Cox and Gayle, while Fabrice Fernandes, whose wing trickery was a refreshing respite from the propensity of the other wide midfielders to tuck in, saw too little of the ball in areas where he could be dangerous. Even as the pressure on them grew, Alec Chamberlain remained largely untroubled and Watford looked forward to regrouping at half-time.Ormerod ensured they had to do so from the position of being a goal down. Anders Svensson, seizing on a loose header by Cox, sent Chris Marsden scampering to the byline. The Southampton captain’s delivery was perfect, allowing the unmarked Ormerod to steer his header away from Chamberlain on his 750th appearance in a manner Paul Peschisolido failed to do against David Seaman on his 1,000th.Undaunted, Watford began the second half as feistily as they had the first. Chopra had an early opportunity to show how he had scored four at Burnley recently, only for Wayne Bridge to demonstrate why he is England’s left-back with a fine recovering tackle. Ardley’s 62nd-minute cross picked out Stephen Glass at the back post, but Jones arched to touch the ball on to and over the bar.Watford’s 19,000 followers, who made the Holte End resemble a giant, daffodil-covered hillside, no doubt wished that Helguson, so formidable in the air, had been on the end of the centre instead of Glass. But then “if onlys” are the losers’ lot on such occasions, and any lingering doubt that such would be the Hertfordshire club’s status was dispelled by a second Southampton goal with 11 minutes remaining.The newly introduced Rory Delap dispossessed Hyde in the Watford half before sending Ormerod darting down the left flank.

A low ball across the face of goal found Beattie converging with Gayle and Robinson, the ball entering the net off the much-booked full-back to be joined there by all three players. Beattie, a trifle sheepishly, took the plaudits and songs of South Coast triumphalism filled the air.Gayle’s riposte, a glancing header from Ardley’s corner, guaranteed a more exciting finale than Strachan would have wished. In the semi-final analysis, however, consolation goals are a cruel misnomer.Watford 1 Gayle 87Southampton 2 Ormerod 43, Robinson og 79H-T: 0-1 Att: 42,602Southampton (4,4,2): Jones; Telfer, Lundekvam, M Svensson, Bridge; Fernandes, Oakley, A Svensson (Delap, 78), Marsden; Ormerod (Tessem, 90), Beattie. Substitutes not used: Davies, Higginbotham, Blayney (gk).Watford (4-4-2): Chamberlain; Mahon, Cox, Gayle, Robinson; Ardley, Vernazza (Nielsen, 56), Hyde, Glass (Cook, 77); Helguson, Chopra (Smith, 70). Substitutes not used: Dyche, Lee (gk).Referee: M Riley (Leeds).Bookings: Watford: Cox, Robinson, Helguson Southampton: Fernandes.Man of the match: Ormerod.. Henrik Larsson shrugged off the disappointment of his penalty miss against Boavista in the Uefa Cup semi-final last Thursday to keep Celtic on the tails of Rangers in the duel for the Scottish Premier League title.

Rangers remain eight points ahead, but Celtic, perhaps crucially, still have two games in hand with one Old Firm derby still to come.Larsson’s first-half strike was small reward for a Celtic side who had dominated the game against a team making their own strides towards next season’s Uefa Cup with an impressive run in which only Rangers have defeated them in the last dozen games.However, Martin O’Neill knows that there is no longer even that kind of margin for error for his players if they want to win a third successive championship.”This was a must-win game for us,” said the Celtic manager. “We have to keep the title in our own hands and to do that we must keep winning from now until the end of the season.” Celtic should have had things wrapped up by half-time as they put Kilmarnock under intense pressure. Alan Thompson, rightly praised later by O’Neill as the game’s best player, thumped a venomous volley after 10 minutes that would have found the net but for the agile goalkeeping of Gordon Marshall.However, Larsson did score 10 minutes later, with Thompson this time the creator. The midfielder threaded an angled pass over the Kilmarnock defence for John Hartson to gather, then cut back for Larsson to finish off with his right boot from 10 yards.The pattern continued after the interval, with Thompson running the show with a series of teasing crosses. Larsson just failed to turn two of them into goals but Stilian Petrov sealed the success in the 73rd minute.Celtic broke down the right, with Didier Agathe finding Paul Lambert, whose low cross was cleverly backheeled to Petrov, who swept a measured shot beyond Marshall from the edge of the box.Goals: Larsson (20) 1-0, Petrov (73) 2-0.Celtic (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Bald?Valgaeren; Agathe (Maloney, 84), Lambert, Lennon , Petrov (Smith, 84), Thompson; Larsson, Hartson. Substitutes not used: Sanchez Broto (gk), McNamara, Crainey.Kilmarnock (3-5-2): Marshall; Shields, Fulton, Innes; Fowler, Mahood, Locke, McDonald (McLaughlin, 50), Canero; McLaren (Boyd, 76), McSwegan. Substitutes not used: Stewart (gk), Dindeleux, Hay.Referee: A Freeland.Bookings: Celtic: Lennon.