Loach in the dock as Harry gets out of jail

Harry Redknapp was made to endure a nervy night on his return to the Tottenham dugout as his team edged into the fifth round of the FA Cup thanks to Rafael van der Vaart’s first-half strike against Watford.

Redknapp, back on the touchline after spending his week contesting two charges of tax evasion, made the journey across London from Southwark Crown Court and watched his team put on a poor display in the first half, until Watford keeper Scott Loach allowed Van der Vaart’s low drive to beat him from 30 yards.

Npower championship side Watford, 35 places below Spurs in the league ladder, rattled the Tottenham woodwork on two occasions and keeper Carlo Cudicini performed well to keep out lively striker Marvin Sordell in the second half as Spurs were made to work hard for their place in the next round.

Redknapp admitted his side rode their luck to go through, heaping praise on Watford in the process.

Redknapp said: “They say it’s better to be lucky than good. Tonight we were lucky, we weren’t good.

“We’re normally good, tonight was not the Tottenham team I see every week, we didn’t play well, we were poor.

“Credit to Watford though, they were fantastic. I thought they were absolutely brilliant. They were top class. We got away with it tonight.”

Redknapp would have wanted an easier test on his return to action, but his team are safely through after avoiding an upset that looked likely for large parts of the game.

A starting XI that contained the likes of Luka Modric, Van der Vaart and Scott Parker were made to struggle in the opening stages, however, as Watford, clearly determined to cause an upset, started well.

With five minutes gone, Joe Garner released Sordell after a slip by Younes Kaboul but the pacy striker could only shoot at Cudicini.

Prince Buaben then belted a fierce drive just wide of Cudicini’s goal in the 16th minute.

Almost half an hour had passed before Spurs had their first attempt on goal — a mis-timed volley from Jermain Defoe.

The visitors’ worries were eased three minutes from the break, however, when Van der Vaart picked up Kyle Walker’s pass, ran at a back-peddling Watford defence and fired home from 30 yards past Loach, who will be disappointed he did not save the shot.

Redknapp brought on Aaron Lennon for Modric at half time but Watford started the second period brightly and were nearly level four minutes in when former Republic of Ireland underage midfielder Sean Murray’s curling effort was brilliantly tipped onto the post by Cudicini before Troy Deeney blazed wastefully over on the rebound.

Tottenham rallied and Van der Vaart came close to making it 2-0 with a swirling free-kick before the Dutchman then struck the bar.

Former Spurs player Mark Yeates then set up John Eustace in the box but his header hit a post.

The Hornets almost pulled level with 10 minutes left when Cudicini saved Nyron Nosworthy’s shot with his feet. The ball bounced out to Sordell but Walker flung himself at the ball for a crucial block.

Watford threw everything at the visitors in the final minutes but resolute defending ensured their hopes of earning a replay were dashed.

Watford boss Sean Dyche thought his team had done enough to earn a replay.

He said: “I thought our performance was excellent tonight. Sometimes it happens when you don’t get your rewards and I think that happened tonight.”

WATFORD: Loach, Hodson, Mariappa, Nosworthy, Doyley, Eustace, Deeney, Buaben, Murray (Yeates 67), Sordell, Garner (Whichelow 80).

TOTTENHAM: Cudicini, Walker, Kaboul, Dawson, Rose, Parker, Van der Vaart, Modric (Lennon 46), Livermore, Adebayor (Pavlyuchenko 90), Defoe (Pienaar 80).

Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside).