Those who kept the faith were vindicated in a superb disciplined performance from Saints were they dominated the game from start to finish.

Ronald koeman rung the changes, some enforced and some tactical and was rewarded by a great performance were the entire side remained focused and concentrated for 90 minutes.

The return of several players through injury brought a freshness to the side lacking in the last three games and each of those players did their bit.

Fraser Forster did not have a lot to do, but his mere presence was enough to add confidence to his defence and although he was never really tested he did the three things he was called upon to deal with with a calmness that was good to see.

At right back Cedric Soares was superb and had probably his best game at the club, he defended strongly and overlapped with pace to offer options at both ends of the pitch for Saints.

Ryan Bertrand had only missed one game but returned to the starting line up and provided the cover that enabled Matt Targett playing in front of him to get forward and play telling passes and crosses without the worry of getting caught on the break, Targett like Soares also had his best game for the club so far.

In the centre of the midfield both Jordy Clasie & Oriol Romeu worked well together and not only harassed and won the ball, but moved it forward quickly meaning that Watford spent most of the game on the back foot.

Steven Davis was sublime, he is Mr Consistent and that ofen means being an unsung hero, but tonight he played out of his skin and was at the heart of most things Saints did.

Then there was Shane Long, great opening goal and did not stop running from the first to the last minute, he now only has one less Premier League goal than Pelle and has done it in around half the amount of time on the pitch, those who said that he was not worth the money have to eat their words .

Sadio Mane is the name being linked with a big money move and his pace caused lots of problems, but if Manchester United were monitoring him their scouts would be using words like Arse, Banjo, Cow about his finishing and he has not scored a Premier League goal in 12 games and nearly 3 months, his performance lacked nothing in guts, passion and pace, not to mention enthusiasm, but of late he can't finish his dinner let alone a ood chance.

So with Soares, Targett, Clasie, Romeu, Long & Davis all putting in 9/10 performances all it needed to win the game was the rest to put in a minimum of 7/10 and this they all did.

A mention for Ronald Koeman who once again showed tactical nous, not only in playing the Targett/Bertrand formation on the left, but being brave enough to replace Sadio Mane with Dusan Tadic a move that immediately paid dividends and could have been even better with a little more luck.

Koeman has stuck to his guns and showed why he is the best manager for this football club.

Watford were poor though, how much of that was down to saints I don't know but they did not look like a top 10 side, they showboated too much and when graft and basic's were called for too often they tried fancy back flicks.

Now Saints have a good platform to take on West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, this was a win wrought from hard work, determination and concentration, there was no element of luck about it, not was there an opportunity for the opposition manager to bleat about the referee costing him the game, this was just what the doctor ordered and will give us confidence for Saturday.

We can take on the Baggies knowing that we are within sight of the top 10 again and a few more wins like this will get us there.

Photo: Action Images

codge added 14:56 - Jan 14 Please follow up this game with another great game, no let down like what happened after Arsenal. This could be the turning point that we need, Coyr.
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DPeps added 15:16 - Jan 14 Great performance and much needed. Targett gets done stick but he's young and on his day he can be excellent. As I said after the Arsenal game, this good performance means little if we fail to build on it. WBA will be a very different opponent from Watford. Hope that the midfield from last night are rewarded and Vic on the bench.
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ElSanto added 15:39 - Jan 14 To be honest, I'd bring in Wanyama for Clasie and bring Clasie on around 70 mins. I think that was his first 90 and the next game is only a couple of days away.
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schatfield added 15:44 - Jan 14 I wasnt at the game, so for those that were, why do you think the Bertrand/Targett formation down the left was done? and effective enough to do it again and again?
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Alehouse added 15:47 - Jan 14 Good report, it was an outstanding all round performance and a tactical victory for Koeman. One aspect that you never covered was the importance of our line-up in snuffing out any threat from Ighalo and Deeney. With Bertrand for cover and Targett able to fill in at left back, Fonte and Van Dyke were able to play right up on the Watford forwards and won everything in the air and on the deck. Later in the game Deeney moved further over to the left but found Bertrand well up to the job. Van Dyke was immense not just 7/10 with Fonte close behind.

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Saintpots added 15:58 - Jan 14 Agree with everything here but am I only one that thought Clasie was as poor s Romy was good? He gave the ball away too often and although he worked hard and harried, didn't win it enough either.
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pintsizedsaint added 16:24 - Jan 14 I do wonder at the amount of stick Clasie seems to get on forums. Not sure why, and hope it's not another Danny Fox or Guly thing. When he does well it's ignored, and when he make mistakes it's highlighted as being proof he is the worst signing ever! I'm no super fan but I like the look of him and he's now starting to acclimatise. He gets good reviews from pundits too (including last night's game). Am I missing something?!

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BoondockSaint added 16:33 - Jan 14 I get the feeling Tadic is one of those players that needs to be angry. If you start him on the bench, when he does get in, he's raring to go, to prove you wrong.
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A1079 added 17:10 - Jan 14 A good performance and worked hard and a deserved, as well as a much needed win. Need to put a run together though and I reserve judgement as to whether it is a turning point because I thought that against Arsenal (though to be fair we played well at West Ham, we just couldn't score - which has been our main problem and was to some extent last night and against a better team may have again been the difference between a win or not). Watford were poor but whether they had an off night or we made them poor is a moot point, but either way, it does not matter.

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SaintBrock added 18:15 - Jan 14 Saintpots who were you watching last night then? Can't have been up at SMS. Classy was superb as in SUPERB
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SaintBrock added 18:19 - Jan 14 El Santo You don't change a winning team - first rule of football. Watford are miles better than WBA. OK, Pulis will put nine men back in their own half for the draw so we need to score quickly and force them into a more open game. Should be an easy win on last night's form and Mane owes us a couple.
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mesquita added 18:35 - Jan 14 against the Baggies we will need speed to get behind them, so we should play the same starting 11. Fonte's look when asked if happy to have Fraser back in goal saved a million words. Also very glad to see RK saying we should only buy players that are better than we ones we have, he's right and it suggests some big signings in the summer, players also better than any we sell!

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IWOZTHERE added 20:35 - Jan 14 Injury plagued so I can only go on what I've read and just relieved about the result big time! Just a snipe about the report and why I mentioned the party line the other day. My opinion over RK is favourable but reserved, but that was only our second win from eleven hardly enough to state that 'it proved he's the best man to manage Saints?' Also,' within sight of the top ten', one game at a time please! That's being realistic and takes nothing away from a brilliant result.

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Zambucco added 11:56 - Jan 15 Nice comment IWOZTHERE
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