Weekly local football round up

Sports journalist Harvey Stevens provides a weekly round up of the football scores and stories from around the local area.

Watford extended their unbeaten record in the Championship on Saturday, but could only take a point as they drew 0-0 away at Preston. 

It now means that The Hornets have drawn three of their opening five fixtures in the league, only scoring four times in the process. 

It comes as transfer speculation on outgoings from Vicarage Road is rife, with big name attackers looking set to leave Hertfordshire. Forward Emmanuel Dennis has already completed a £20 million move to newly promoted Nottingham Forest whilst João Pedro and Ismaïla Sarr look likely to follow him out the exit door. 

Pedro has been heavily linked with a move to Newcastle and talks are said to be ongoing, whilst Sarr’s potential move to Aston Villa is reported to have collapsed. 

Departures were always going to be likely following the club’s relegation last season. However manager Rob Edwards was hopeful that he would be able to keep hold of at least one of their attacking trio. With over a week left of the transfer window, he could very well see all three assets leave Hertfordshire. 

Watford host MK Dons in the second round of the EFL Cup tomorrow, with live updates provided on Vibe’s Twitter @VIBE1076 from Vicarage Road, before continuing their league campaign at home to QPR on Saturday. 

Elsewhere in the area, Stevenage continued their fine start to the season in League Two by beating Carlisle United 2-1 at home. Steve Evans’ men made it four wins out of five and, like Watford, are still unbeaten. It is the first time since 2017/18 that they haven’t tasted defeat in their opening five fixtures. 

The Boro’ have also progressed into the second round of the EFL Cup after beating Championship outfit Reading in their opening game, and they host Peterborough United tomorrow evening looking to progress one round further. 

In the National League, both Boreham Wood and Wealdstone also came away from the weekend with three points. Boreham Wood travelled to Torquay United where an early goal from Jamal Fyfield was enough to secure victory for manager Luke Garrard and his team. 

Whilst Wealdstone have enjoyed a flying start to their National League campaign. The Stones followed up a hugely impressive away win at recently relegated Oldham Athletic in mid-week with a 1-0 win at home against FC Halifax. The result saw the Ruislip side climb to second in the table, far exceeding their expectations before the season. 

Elsewhere in non-league, Hemel Hempstead Town squandered a first-half lead against Welling United in the National League South to lose 3-2. Goals from Josh Castiglione and Jordan Neil Greenidge put The Tudors in control at half-time, before Welling scored three goals in the space of five minutes after the break to take all three points. 

St. Albans City, however, got their first win of the season by beating Cheshunt 2-1 away from home. A second-half brace from Shaun Jeffers was enough to kickstart their National League South season. 

Finally, Watford Women got their FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division season off to a winning start as they beat Gillingham 3-2 at their new home Grosvenor Vale, home of Wealdstone FC. The Hornets came back from 2-1 down to grab a victory with Andria Georgiou grabbing the winning goal. The team travel to Bridgwater United next week looking to make it two wins from two.