It’s a goal that has been all over social media, will be shown again countless times on TV and is sure to live long in the memory of Watford’s fans and players.

But head coach Valerien Ismael was not at all surprised that Wes Hoedt tried, and succeeded with, a 45-yard shot that sailed over Hull keeper Ryan Allsop to give the Hornets their 2-1 win at Hull.

In fact, Allsop’s predilection for playing well outside his own penalty area was something Ismael and his staff had identified and indeed worked on with the players during the lead up to the game.

“To be fair, we worked on that pattern,” said Ismael.

“The Championship has evolved, and goalkeepers have a massive part in the build-up now. So we know that some teams play with a high risk with their keeper, and Hull City are one.

“A lot of teams take risks with the positioning of their keeper, and we knew that when the ball goes through the middle we needed to defend aggressively forward and if we have the possibility then we say to our centre backs ‘try it’.

“Wes made it perfectly but it was not a surprise because we worked on it.

“If you see the pictures on the TV, Wes didn’t need to think about it. He did it straight away. It’s a drill we do all the time.”

If Hoedt’s goal made him the matchwinner, then the other hero on a day when everyone wearing the Watford badge excelled was goalkeeper Ben Hamer.

The 36-year-old is in his second season at the club, but yesterday was only his fourth Championship appearance in that time.

But his second-half penalty save was a major turning point in the game – although Ismael’s decision to start Hamer rather than Dan Bachmann, who had served his one-match suspension, had already been a talking point.

“We have two great keepers, and that has been our feeling all the time throughout the process,” he said.

“I have the right, as a manager, to listen to my feelings and to see what we need at the minute for the team.

“We had to play in the Ben in the week, and my feeling was to continue with him in order to keep the momentum.

“It doesn’t mean, because Dan is our captain, that he should play every game. We have the right to take decisions when our feeling is for the good of the team.

“The team comes above everything and my job is to make the decisions for the team.

“We need to keep all the players involved because we need everyone to be successful.

“It’s another great team performance and everyone has the possibility to help because they have the quality to bring success to the team.”