clips of Jon Marks BBC 3CR commentary   Goals: 1

RELIVE – Watford vs Everton: Troy Deeney earns vital Premier League win

Troy Deeney scores the winner as Watford beat Everton

Watford’s work rate praised after taking ‘three very important points’ against Everton

Javi Gracia discusses switch to two strikers after Watford’s win over Everton

Watford vs Everton ratings: Stefano Okaka impresses from the bench as Troy Deeney hits winner

Images from Watford’s victory over Everton as Troy Deeney scores decisive goal

Watford: Sebastian Prodl praises ‘individual class’ in vital Premier League win over Everton

Troy Deeney struck late as Watford secured a 1-0 win against Everton in the Premier League at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

Captain Deeney smashed a shot into the roof of the net – his first goal from open play all season – to help the Hornets crawl six points above the bottom three.

Blunt as ever, Troy Deeney described this match as “pretty dire”. That may have been something of an exaggeration but it was not wholly inaccurate – yet ultimately this was an occasion to savour for Watford’s captain.

Any sense of blood and thunder and scores to be settled was short lived. The teams arrived to a particularly densely packed wall of flags in the Rookery and an unexpected cannonfire of yellow and black streamers from the base of the stand. Briefly this had the desired effect as the crowd roared the Hornets on, until it became clear that said streamers had been fired with sufficient welly to reach and entangle themselves into the hooks and anchors in the ceiling of the stand which has never received more attention during a game as the tendrils of streamers blowing in the wind provided an unusual frame to the action, a garish new Instagram filter for the rest of the evening. 

It had been a remarkably dull game with most of the excitement of the first half deriving from having to fight off streamers that had detached themselves from the roof.