TWO superbly-taken goals from skipper John Eustace saw Watford beat Barnsley 2-1 here at a ice-cold Vicarage Road today - and, in fairness, they never really had to get into top gear to do it.
With temperatures just about above freezing, neither side did much to warm the spirits in the first 45 minutes; that was until Eustace popped up with an exquisite bicycle-kick finish on 33 minutes.
And the captain doubled his money - and Watford's lead - after 24 minutes of the second half when he showed great alertness to make the most of loose change from a half-cleared long throw.
Barnsley managed a late consolation, but they offered little in the way of attacking threat until drawing inspiration from a barely-deserved strike on debut by Scott Golbourne.
Both sides employed the same starting Xis that won their respective matches on Tuesday evening - and perhaps this had a cancelling-out effect with both sides knowing plenty about each other's strengths.
Alex Kacaniklic's low shot was the only goal-bound effort before Eustace's opener, and the Reds had just one tame header on target before half-time.
After the break, Watford had the better of things without being particularly dominant.
Eustace's second was really the first effort on-target for either side. He burst through having latched onto Joe Garner's challenge from a long throw. The slotted finish past Steele befitted a striker rather than a holding midfielder.
Sean Murray saw a shot blocked and Troy Deeney fired the rebound well over with 11 minutes left.
Deeney's well-struck low drive was gathered by Steele seven minutes from time. Then Barnsley got back into it when Scott Golbourne turned home after Craig Davies had flicked on a Scott Wiseman cross.
With time ticking down, Watford reverted to more of a 4-4-1-1 formation, and perhaps there were the sign of tiring legs with some long clearances and indifferent decision-making.
But for Barnsley to have got anything out of the game would have been an extreme case of flattery. The Hornets did most of the pressing and, all-in-all, deserved a second League win in a week.
TEAMS
Hornets: Loach; Hodson, Mariappa, Nosworthy, Doyley; Murray, Eustace (c), Hogg, Kacaniklic (Buaben 70); Deeney, Garner.
Subs not used: Bond (GK), Dickinson, Yeates, Iwelumo.
Goals: Eustace (33), Eustace (69). Yellow cards: Hogg (65)
Reds: Steele; Wiseman, Edwards (c), Foster, McNulty (Doyle 67); Smith, Tonge (Golbourne 57), Perkins, Done (Dagnall HT); Davies, Gray.
Subs not used: Preece (GK), Hassell.
Goals: Golbourne (86). Yellow cards: Foster (48), McNulty (19), Tonge (40)
Ref: Roger East. Att: 11,306 (522 Tykes' fans).
