A goal a quarter of an hour from the end by Inter Milan substitute, Marco Andreolli denied brave
Spurned on by an excellent crowd, the Golden Boys almost managed to inflict an embarrassing defeat on the Italians, who after falling behind on the hour, needed a scrambled equaliser to restore parity.
The evening began with both managers opting for strong starting line-ups, home boss Aidy Boothroyd deciding to give new £1.6m defender, Danny Shittu his non competitive debut in partnership with Jay DeMerit, while further forward Damien Francis, another summer acquisition played at the Vic for the first time. The front three had a decidedly more familiar look, with Marlon King, flanked by Darius Henderson and Ashley Young.
The visitors led by Robert Mancini, opted for a near full international line-up, and although there was no sign of the recently signed Patrick Vieira, Hernan Crespo or Italy's' World Cup winning pair of Marco Materazzi and Fabio Grosso, the Serie A side could still boast ten players capped by their country, albeit none of them Italian.
The game started quietly, with Watford perhaps a shade hesitant of what to expect from their exalted visitors, but after initial sparring Boothroyd's men attacked with gusto, King, as lively as ever, bringing a fine save out of Inter goalkeeper, Julio Cesar.
The strike saw the home side visibly grow in confidence, and after Young had narrowly fired an effort wide King thought he had scored, last season's leading goalscorer touching home a Shittu flick-on, but Referee Mr. Gallagher ruled the effort out for an infringement by the former Queens Park Rangers man.
Inter, although looking comfortable on the ball had rarely threatened but as the first half wore on they came more into the contest, and a neat move ended with Oliver Dacourt testing Richard Lee in the home goal, before Dejan Stankovic blasted the resultant rebound over when well placed.
With now a toe-hold in the match the Italians briefly showed they could step up a gear and Adrianno then brought the best out of Lee with a thunderous header, before Obafemi Martins just failed to finish off a mesmeric sortie into the heart of the Watford rearguard, shooting meekly at the Watford stopper when the hard work was complete.
The interval allowed the hosts to regroup and restore possession equality at the start of the second stanza, and King was to illuminate the evening for the home support after 60 minutes. Feeding off a trademark 
King almost doubled Watford's advantage soon after, only for Toldo to be alert, and the home side was left to rue this missed opportunity as Inter restored parity with quarter of an hour remaining.
Marcelo Pizzaro fashioned the chance, loosing his marker on the right, and after his low cross had not been cleared, Andreolii stuck out a leg to divert the ball into Lee's net.
Thereafter both sides seemed content with a share of the spoils, and although Inter made a number of changes in the closing stages,
So with a first Premiership date against Everton drawing ever closer, a meritorious draw for Boothroyd's side, who will be able to draw many positives from an encouraging team performance.
For Inter, a useful workout, and one can sense a two pronged attack for the Italian Championship and Champions League will be the least expected of Mancini's multi-talented squad.
Inter | |
King 60 | Andreolli 75 |
Line-ups | |
Richard Lee | Julio Cesar (Franceso Toldo 45) |
Lloyd Doyley | Sisenando Maicon (Leonardo Bonucci 83) |
Jay DeMerit | Ramira Cordoba (Marco Andreolli 65) |
Danny Shittu (Adrian Mariappa 45) | Walter Samuel (Marino 76) |
Chris Powell | Javier Zanetti (Simone Fautario 76) |
James Chambers (Anthony McNamee 73) | Marcelo Pizzaro (Tijani Belaid 83) |
Gavin Mahon | Dejan Stankovic |
Damien Francis | Oliver Dacourt (Esteban Cambiasso 45) |
Ashley Young | Obafmi Martins (Goran Slavkovski 83) |
Marlon King | Adriano (Cesar 45) |
Darius Henderson (Al Bangura 73) | |
Substitutes Not Used | |
Alec Chamberlain | . |
Jordan Stewart | . |
Támas Priskin | . |
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