Just like passing your driving test or buying your first drink in a pub, Sunday’s win over West Bromwich Albion felt like a ‘coming of age’ moment in Watford’s season.
It’s not that the Hornets had fluked their way into the play-off race or stumbled through the first nine home Championship fixtures of the season without defeat.
They deserved both.
But just like going for a spin in your Dad’s car round the local supermarket car park when you're 16, or managing to sneak a pint at 17 because you look a bit older, Watford had done all the grown-up stuff and shown they could handle it – but they needed that result, that performance, that afternoon which made it all seem very real and official.
The 2-1 win at Vicarage Road yesterday felt like that was it.
Having been held goalless at home to QPR and then needing a late equaliser to get a point away at bottom side Hull City, the visit of an Albion team that was unbeaten in 12 games and above Watford in the table was an opportunity for the Golden Boys to put down a marker.
That opportunity was seized with plenty of gusto and a fair bit of late grit as victory was secured in an absorbing and exciting game – a proper high-quality tussle between two sides who now seem likely to still be in, or very close to, the play-off places come May.
In the days leading up to the game there was much discussion about how many of his ‘flair’ players Tom Cleverley could shoehorn into the starting XI without compromising the solid Vicarage Road defensive record which boasted four consecutive clean sheets.
Unbeknown to most, the head coach and his staff had already decided the morning after their bus journey back from Humberside that a change to a flat back four, thus allowing the attacking triumvirate of Giorgi Chakvetadze, Kwadwo Baah and Rocco Vata to start a game together for the first time, was the way to beat Albion.
It proved to be absolutely the right decision and one which also caught out Carlos Corberan and Albion, who discarded their usual back four to go with three at the back in a presumed attempt to 'match' the Hornets.
That trio did so much damage to West Brom yesterday while they were together on the pitch for 74 minutes – which is three minutes more than the entire time they had spent in the team as a threesome during the rest of the season.
- Porteous happy to be returning to his best form
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It was a bold, brave and ultimately brilliant decision by Cleverley, who continues to show he is very much his own man without being stubborn or arrogant.
He’s also learning too, seeing the solid but shot-shy performance at Hull and realising that he needed to get his matchwinners on the pitch in order to hurt Albion, who had only lost one away league game before arriving at Vicarage Road.
To make the change of shape work, Cleverley clearly had to ensure that those further up the pitch did their share of hod-carrying and chasing – or the ‘unsexy’ stuff as he calls it – so that the fledgling back four weren’t left unduly exposed.
From the outset it was clear that the likes of Vata and Baah had been coached extensively in the couple of days of training before the match and had no doubt what was required of them.
Vata, in particular, looked like a toy that had fresh batteries as he dashed and darted all over the place, shutting down and harrying.
That he was to end up with two goal assists as well clearly made this his best outing since joining from Celtic in the summer.
The £230,000 fee looked paltry at the time for a player who was already playing Under-21 international football – now it’s beginning to appear like ‘Mr Integrity’ at Celtic Park has potentially allowed Watford to pay cubic zirconia prices for a diamond that just needs the edges filed away.
In defence, Ryan Porteous and Mattie Pollock were in commanding form, to the extent that when Josh Maja – the Championship’s second top scorer – was replaced after 65 minutes, some in the press box remarked they hadn’t realised he was playing.
Playing as he did on Sunday, Porteous offers not just a strong and intelligent defensive presence, but also an attacking threat with his darts forward and ability at set pieces.
After the summer he had, and the stuttering start to the season, to see the Scotsman looking again like the player that arrived from Hibs and instantly made an impression is a very good sign indeed.
After joining a list of Championship defenders who have found Tom Fellows hard to handle early on, James Morris retained his composure – aided by some minor tweaks explained by Porteous – and gave his usual solid, reliable performance at full-back.
Over on the right, Jeremy Ngakia was completing his first full 90 minutes in 14 months, and did it with alacrity.
His ability to defend has never really been in doubt, he has shown he can also operate as a wing-back – but staying fit for any length of time has always been the nagging doubt.
Sunday was a big step forward but clearly he’ll need to stay injury-free for a good while to alleviate those concerns. Provided he can, he gives Cleverley another very good option on the right.
It was Ngakia who helped create the first Watford chance of the game as his driven cross was only cleared as far as Vata.
Taking the ball on his chest, the youngster then unleashed a volley that beat Albion keeper Alex Palmer but came back off the bar. It was great technique, nonetheless.
It was mere respite for the visitors though, and when Chakvetadze burst forward before playing a canny pass back out to the flank, Vata checked and delivered a flatter cross which Bayo had more chance of winning against taller defenders.
Having peeled off to meet the ball, the Ivorian international still had a lot to do - but he not only managed to generate enough power in his header but also steered it perfectly down towards the base of the post to give Watford the lead.
Easy to like but equally frustrating, Bayo can make the difficult look simple as readily as turning an easy chance into a horrendous miss.
His volley at home to Derby and the sublime little dink amid his four goals at Sheffield Wednesday were a touch of class – yet the same player has twice failed to hit the target when sent clear in games this season.
Ultimately, though, he has nine goals and is the third highest scorer in the division, and many of his teammates testify that he is the hardest-working and least selfish forward they have played alongside.
Just like Watford’s place in the league table, Bayo’s nine goals are no fluke. Hopefully what he did yesterday will only increase his confidence further.
Albion wasted a couple of chances before the break: Callum Styles dragging the ball across the face of goal was a poor miss, but Karlan Grant’s pass back to Dan Bachmann from six yards was horrendous.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half was perhaps the best seen at Vicarage Road this season, and for a few seasons.
Watford were unplayable, led by the unstoppable and cavalier brilliance of Chakvetadze but with many others chipping in.
While it’s tremendous fun for us to watch, being in a defence trying to contain the Georgian in full flight, the power and pace of Baah and the quick-footed trickery of Vata can’t be very pleasant.
Albion were being pulled all over the place, and Bayo was only denied a second by a fine close-range stop from Palmer after connecting with a Chakvetadze cross.
When you suddenly see Porteous and Moussa Sissoko playing intricate triangles inside the opposition’s box, you know you’re dominant – and the electrifying start to the second half was rewarded when Bayo did finally get his second.
The little flick and acceleration from Vata created it, and his looping cross was right into the danger zone.
With Pollock strong-arming Maja out of the way – the half-hearted appeals for a foul by Albion defenders were more in hope than belief – the ball made its way to Bayo, and once again the striker had a lot to do.
His first touch, getting the ball under control with his upper chest, was so good that it afforded him space to position his body to sweep a controlled, low shot into the corner with the well-beaten Palmer merely watching.
It was a mature, professional finish from Bayo. He could have been tempted to have a right old thrash at the ball after getting it down, but instead he executed his goal in the manner of someone who scores those regularly.
Hopefully he will now – and hopefully he’ll then make a better knee-slide than the one in front of the delighted Rookery End!
It could easily have been 3-0 when Baah got on the end of a Sissoko cross but saw his goalbound effort blocked, and Albion were certainly on the ropes at the stage.
Their magic sponge, which brought them back into contest, in the 67th minute had a degree of good fortune about it as Mikey Johnston’s shot was blocked by Porteous and could have gone anywhere.
Instead it landed perfectly for Jason Molumby, whose low shot whistled under the sliding Pollock and emerged to give Bachmann only enough time to get a hand on the ball which slowed it down, but didn’t stop it entering the net.
The concession of a goal, the roar of the away end and a look at the clock combined to get the nerves jangling, but the work that Cleverley has talked about undertaking with his players in recent weeks to focus on how to see games out came to the fore.
There were corners and free-kicks, and any time the ball entered the Watford defensive third the Albion fans' noise went up a few decibels.
But in actuality, they only once truly threatened to wrestle a point from the Hornets’ grasp, though when Darnell Furlong got on the end of a corner there were flashbacks to the same player suddenly unleashing a peach of a shot to equalise at the Hawthorns at the end of last season.
This time, though, Bachmann got two hands to his header and pushed the ball away from danger.
Referee Gavin Ward, one of a growing breed of officials who seem able to upset both sets of fans and players at the same time, subjected the home faithful to six minutes of stoppage time and nearly two more on top of that before finally bringing play to a halt.
It had been a breathless, thrilling and occasionally nerve-testing afternoon, but one when Watford stepped up to the plate manfully, showing they can change both shape and personnel while delivering a performance that looked like the 11 out there had been playing the same way all season long.
There were so many good individual performances that combined to deliver a team performance as good as any under Cleverley, who along with Damon Lathrope, Paul Robinson and Alberto Garrido kick every ball and celebrate every goal just like the rest of us.
When the limbs in the dug-out are akin to the scenes in the stands, you know everyone wants and feels the same.
Home wins, like getting your driving licence and having your first 'legal' pint, are things to be savoured.
This one, though, felt like the day when it could be openly enjoyed because there was every reason to be believe and expect there was more of the same to come.
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