It’s the 12th of May 2013 and nothing is as perfectly poised in the world at that moment in time as Vicarage Road is. Watford have a 2-1 lead against Leicester City in the Championship’s play-off semi-finals and with the first leg going to Leicester City (1-0), it meant that the aggregate score-line is level at 2-2. Plus, we’re deep into added time in the second half, so deep that the referee Michael Olivier has his whistle to his mouth and is ready to blow to take the game to extra time.

Cardiff City looked like Champions about half-way into that season which meant that Hull City were what Watford had to overcome and they nearly did it. The final day of the regular season and Watford had cut down a seven-point lead to just one. They knew that if they beat Leeds United and Hull City failed to win, they would finish in that coveted automatic promotion spot. Hull City, magnanimously, did their bit and drew 2-2 to Champions Cardiff City, which meant that Watford needed a win. They failed, thanks to a sublime 90th-minute goal from Ross McCormack, and even lost Troy Deeney to a red card.

That helped build momentum for the Nigel Pearson’s side and they certainly made the most of it after dominating the first half of semi-final. They made the most of the fact that the first leg was played at home in the King Power and dominated the first half with a powerful display of football. But they squandered what can only be called guilt edge chances to give the Hornets a fighting chance. They grabbed ahold of the second half only for Alex Geijo and Matej Vydra to waste the best chances of the game.

It’s why many were shell-shocked that the forward who netted 20 goals in the normal season, was the one who missed a glorious chance. But both Watford and Vydra would have a second leg to make up for their problems and they had one Troy Deeney back in play. He was their main man and Deeney proved as much by changing the way Matej Vydra played. Somehow, the attacker found his best form and opened the scoring with a sumptuous volley 15 minutes into the second leg. That would be the boost that the Hornets needed but then up, again, popped David Nugent and his head.

Zero goals in 16 games and then suddenly Nugent’s scored two in two, with another header finding the net. It restored the parity four minutes after Vydra’s opener. But this was Vydra’s night and, he was, after being named the Championship’s player of the season, not to be denied. Goal number two arrived and it was all Troy Deeney which would have been redemption enough for anybody else. He became the perfect target man and as he had done a catalogue of times in the regular season, Deeney laid it off for Vydra to power home.

So much so that he (Deeney) even wore the armband for a handful of games. And all night, in the second leg, he’d caused problems for the Foxes. They couldn’t handle him, with him often bullying defenders into submission, and nothing proved that as much as Vydra’s goal. But that was it. Watford struggled after that and then Anthony Knockaert flew to the floor after Marco Cassetti opted to rest his hand on the winger’s shoulder. We’re in the 90+6 minute and Vicarage Road collectively groans as Michael Olivier points to the spot.

Knockaert bounces back up like a springbok, grabs the ball and he confidently strides towards the penalty spot. The stadium is silent but for the Leicester City fans whose voices are now drowning out the Hornets, who’ve disappeared. They’re instead spending time inside their own heads. You could practically hear their thoughts because you're thinking the exact same thing, wondering, is there enough time? Is there enough time? Knockaert steps back and Michael Olivier blows his whistle.