Watford marked the 100-year anniversary of the first match at Vicarage Road in perfect fashion, as Vakoun Bayo’s first goal for the club in second-half stoppage time earned a dramatic three points.

Rodrigo Muniz put the home festivities on ice when he headed Boro in front with less than five minutes on the clock, but Ismaïla Sarr coolly grabbed his second of the season to make it 1-1 20 minutes later.

Sarr and João Pedro looked among those most likely to add to the scoreline in the second half, and after resolute performaces by Daniel Bachmann and Liam Roberts in either goal looked to have ruled out a winner, Bayo popped up at the crucial time to secure the 2-1 triumph.

A first win in four in the league leaves the Hornets nestling in the play-off places with seven games played, and Head Coach Rob Edwards will now be looking to add to the winning momentum at Rotherham United on Saturday (September 3, 3pm KO).

Edwards made two changes to the XI that had started against Queens Park Rangers three days earlier, with Craig Cathcart and Yáser Asprilla replacing Mario Gaspar and the injured Rey Manaj respectively.

Following the spectacular pyrotechnic display that played a part in kicking off the Vic 100 celebrations before kick-off, Watford - wearing their centenary third kit to mark the special occasion – found themselves with work to do early on when Boro summer signing Muniz nodded in a Ryan Giles cross to make it 1-0 in just the fourth minute.

Christian Kabasele had to be alert to divert the ball out for a corner and prevent the visitors capitalising on their new-found momentum moments later, but Watford gradually worked their way into the contest and a marauding Hassane Kamara run earned a corner from the right.

Some good link-up play between João Pedro and Sarr saw the latter get a sight on goal only for his low shot to be neatly blocked by the stubborn Middlesbrough backline, and in the 19th minute Asprilla curled a speculative free-kick effort off target.

Back at the other end Bachmann did well to come out and collect a teasing Isaiah Jones ball into the box, before Sarr notched the equaliser for the Hornets with a composed finish, after expertly evading the challenge of Alex Mowatt close to the penalty spot.

The Senegal international almost snatched the lead for Watford on the stroke of the half-hour mark having escaped the offside trap, but away stopper Roberts did well to palm his strike away and maintain the 1-1 scoreline.

Edo Kayembe provoked some loud cheers from those in attendance with a silky round-the-world that left Mowatt in no man’s land, with the Golden Boys now in the ascendancy, but Jones served a reminder of Boro’s threat with a chance at the back post, though the offside flag was subsequently raised.

A loose clearance allowed Riley McGree to flash a shot at goal for Middlesbrough, which was deflected out for a corner, but – in keeping with the end-to-end nature of the clash – the Hornets quickly went back on the attack and Asprilla was hauled down by Matt Crooks in a dangerous position.

The resultant set-piece ultimately came to nothing, but João Pedro soon forced Roberts into another save and then Asprilla tried his luck once more but just couldn’t quite find the target.

During the half-time break a feast of club legends from the past 100 years were paraded on the pitch, with the likes of Tommy Mooney, Stewart Scullion, Kenny Jackett and current club captain Tom Cleverley all being warmly welcomed by the buoyant crowd.

With the clock restarted the first two half-chances of the 45 fell to red shirts, though Watford were enjoying more of the possession and a searching Asprilla lofted through-ball almost found the on-rushing João Pedro.

Crooks shot well wide for Boro after finding himself in space close to the edge of the area, but then Bachmann was called upon to acrobatically keep out a point-blank Matt Clarke header just past the hour.

A wave of Middlesbrough pressure continued as Crooks and Clarke both had attempts well blocked by the determined Watford defence, but the Hornets responded with some good attacking play that saw Sarr eventually felled in the area. Referee Chris Kavanagh waved the home appeals away.

Recent arrival Kortney Hause came on to the field for his Watford debut with little over 10 minutes left, before João Pedro shot marginally over from a free-kick when Kamara drew a nasty foul with another mazy venture forward.

Substitute Vakoun Bayo found himself in a good position at the back post but couldn’t quite get his shot off close to the death, though the Ivorian soon made amends by staying onside and slotting past Roberts to grab the winner and delight the 20,000 fans in attendance.