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  • Kick-off: 15:00
  • Venue: Vicarage Road Stadium
  • Attendance: 15803
  • Referee: Woolmer, A

Live Commentary

90 mins

That's it, it's all over, the referee has blown the final whistle.

80 mins

Hull City are replacing Sam Ricketts with Stuart Elliott.

78 mins

David Livermore is replaced by Nicky Featherstone.

73 mins

Tommy Smith is being taken off, Jobi McAnuff has come on in his place.

73 mins

Darius Henderson is replaced by Nathan Ellington.

52 mins

Richard Garcia is replaced by Dean Windass.

46 mins

The second half is under way with the score currently at 1 v 0.

45 mins

Half time whistle is blown by A Woolmer

45 mins

The referee has booked Dean Marney.

31 mins

Wayne Brown is booked for unsporting behaviour.

20 mins

Goal!! Marlon King scores for Watford.

13 mins

The referee has booked David Livermore.

0 mins

The ref has blown his whistle and the match has started.

Match Report

It was another case of solid, rather than spectacular, but Watford did enough to beat stubborn Hull City 1-0 and open up a very healthy six-point cushion at the top of the Championship.

Marlon King's fifth goal of the season earned the Hornets an eighth victory, but with the knowledge that they are not yet operating at full throttle the size of the lead Aidy Boothroyd's men have already established cannot bode well for the chasing pack.

Phil Brown's City were predictably organised and hard to break down, but once King had made the breakthrough after 20 minutes they were always up against it because of their lack of a cutting edge in the final third of the field.

Despite making an unusually sluggish start Watford took the lead in fine fashion. Spotting King's run to the right of the penalty area, captain Gavin Mahon played a superb 30-yard pass to the striker, who easily bundled his way past Damien Delaney before striking a low, angled drive through Wayne Brown's legs, past Boaz Myhill's dive and in-off the far post.

Hull's task could have become harder seven minutes later when David Livermore, who was one of three City players to be booked in the first half, was fortunate to escape a second caution after appearing to jump late into full debutant John-Joe O'Toole.

The Hornets were always in control until the break, but found chances difficult to come by against the disciplined Hull rearguard.

The closest they came to a second was when Adam Johnson's back-heel found King, whose ball across the penalty area seemed destined to give O'Toole a straightforward opportunity until Richard Garcia nicked it away from him at the last minute.

Watford almost became the architects of their own downfall after the break by defending too deep at times, but the closest Hull came to equalising was when Dean Marney's superb ball picked out Bryan Hughes' run from left to right and in behind the home side's defence, but the former Birmingham midfielder was unable to lift the ball over Richard Lee.

The Hornets' afternoon would have been more comfortable had Dan Shittu not blazed a clear-cut chance high and wide of the near post after being picked out by a Johnson corner, but in the end they got over the finishing line without being too unduly troubled.

Watford Team

Hull City Team

Watford

Hull City

Corners

7 2

Fouls

12 13

Goal attempts

4 8

Shots off target

2 5

Offsides

4 1

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