Watford suffered their second league defeat of the season as Blackburn Rovers notched two goals at Ewood Park under the lights.

The hosts began brightly and would maintain their momentum throughout the first half, calling Daniel Bachmann into action on numerous occasions. Rovers’ supremacy would eventually culminate in Ryan Hedges’ opener just before the interval.

As Watford grew in confidence following the break, Christian Kabasele thought he had equalised after poking the ball past Thomas Kaminski, but the linesman ruled the goal out. Blackburn would go on to double their lead through Dominic Hyam in the final stages, who found the top corner with an inventive finish.

Despite a better showing in the second half, the Golden Boys were unable to secure a share of the spoils. The Hornets won’t have long to wait for their next fixture as they welcome Sunderland to The Vic this Saturday (September 17, 3pm KO).

Head Coach Rob Edwards made three changes from last time out against Rotherham United, as Francisco Sierralta, Jeremy Ngakia and Ismaïla Sarr came in for Kortney Hause, Hassane Kamara and Yáser Asprilla.

Before proceedings got underway, Ewood Park joined the rest of the country’s football venues in observing a minute’s silence in tribute to Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, followed by the national anthem.

Within the opening minutes, both sides settled into their respective shapes, but it would be the hosts that would make the brighter start. Although they had the first shot on-target of the encounter, Bachmann grasped Rovers’ effort comfortably after a smart corner routine.

It wouldn’t be long until they came knocking again as Hedges tried his luck from outside the box, with the Austrian shot-stopper forced to palm the ball behind for a set-piece.

The home side remained dominant with the ball and enjoyed spells in the ascendancy, while Watford waited to pounce on the counter-attack. To deal with the threat posed by the Golden Boys, Blackburn’s Hyam was the first to go into the book for a cynical foul on João Pedro.

Edwards would be forced into a change on the half-hour mark after Sarr went down due to injury, bringing on Keinan Davis, and the striker would be involved in the action almost immediately after he was brought to the floor by a trailing Blackburn leg in the box, but his penalty appeals were overlooked.

Blackburn would remain dominant, however, and would eventually make their chances pay as Hedges fired the ball past Bachmann to put the hosts into the lead.

With the momentum in their favour, Blackburn kept pilling on the pressure as the half came to a close with Ben Brereton Díaz curling an effort past the post.

One glimmer of hope for Edwards going into the break was that Hamza Choudhury almost levelled the scores. The midfielder jumped onto a loose Blackburn header seconds before the half-time whistle, but the 24-year-old was unable to divert the ball goalwards.

During the break, the Hornets made their second change of the evening as Sierralta made way for Dan Gosling. A reinvigorated Hornets side re-emerged from the tunnel with much more tenacity and purpose.

It meant that Watford began to cause Blackburn problems of their own, as Kabasele had the ball in the back of the net, but his goal was denied by the linesman who raised his flag for offside.

Bachmann had to remain vigilant in-between the sticks though as he denied an onrushing Brereton Díaz from point-blank range, poking the ball behind for a corner.

It was another enforced change for Edwards next, as Ngakia was withdrawn for Mario Gaspar, alongside Choudhury who made way for Asprilla.

With Watford pushing for an equaliser, Blackburn doubled their lead as Hyam cushioned the ball into the corner of the net with the outside of his foot, after a flick-on reached the defender at the back post.

Edwards’ side continued to fight into added time but ultimately were unable to overturn the two-goal deficit.