Watford ease themselves back into play-off picture at delicious expense of ailing rivals Luton
Watford (2) 2 Dele-Bashiru pen 11, Kayembe 23
Luton Town (0) 0
Sometimes it's more fun revelling in the discomfort of your biggest rival than celebrating your own team's triumph. Maybe in the case of Watford v Luton, that sometimes is always.
Hornets fans were only too delighted to see their M1 neighbours suffer again as they toil at the bottom of the Championship - now winless in 12, despite the arrival of Matt Bloomfield in the dugout eight games ago.
Watching them toil so badly, it really was impossible to see how they could have been a Premier League team a year ago.
It's 31 years since Luton last won a league game at Vicarage Road, though they still lead the overall head to head 38-30 and thrashed Watford 3-0 at home in October. This was a perfect moment for the home fans to remind the Hatters that this has not been the greatest of venues for them.
Two goals in the opening 25 minutes put Tom Cleverley's men in the driving seat and they made sure that advantage did not slip. Keeper Egil Selvik had little to do throughout.
They badly needed this one for all sorts of reasons - not least of which was to end a wretched run of five home defeats. A win puts them back in the play-off picture as they climb to within three points of the top six.
It took only 11 minutes to seize control - Mamadou Doumbia being upended as he chased a ball that keeper Thomas Kaminski appeared to have under his control. The keeper could not atone for his error by keeping out Tom Dele-Bashiru's spot kick low to his right.
If that goal was ugly, the one from which the lead doubled was a gem. Giorgi Chakvetadze's beautiful dash down the left flank left Mads Andersen and Amari'i Bell trailing in his wake and a low cross was bundled home at the far post by a grateful Edo Kayembe - who gloated in celebration in front of the visiting fans.
The Georgian was the pick of the bunch for Watford along with skipper Imran Louza, who lit up a boisterous noon-day crowd with his silky midfield skills - at least when a breakthrough was needed.
The second half soon became an exercise in game management amid a backdrop of the rival fans trading insults and cries of delight from the home end when an ineffective Carlton Morris was withdrawn towards the end. "You're just a sh** Troy Deeney,' chants followed him off the pitch.
The second 45 minutes may have been something of a non-event -apart - from another fine run and drive from Chakvetadze that needed saving - but nobody of Watford persuasion was likely to worry about that. '2-0 on your big day out,' they sang as Luton fans slipped quietly away.
Hornets: (4-2-3-1) Selvik - Ngakia, Keben (Pollock 53), Abankwah (Sierralta 78), Larouchi (Andrews h/t) - Louza, Dele-Bashiru - Ince, Kayembe, Chakvetadze (Morris 96) - Doumbia (Bayo 77)
Hatters: (3-5-2) Kaminski - Walters, Andersen (Makosso h/t), Bell - Jones, Walsh, Nakamba (Baptiste h/t) (Bowwler 70), Aasgaard, Doughty - Morris (Adebayo 84), Nordas (Brown h/t)
Attendance: 20,252
