A really encouraging opening evening of the season as Watford beat Sheffield United 1-0 at Vicarage Road.

The only goal came in the 55th minute and ironically from a United corner. They tried a training ground routine, pulling the ball back to the edge of the box for a shot, but it was charged down and suddenly Hassane Kamara broke from just outside his own box.

As defenders chased back his attempt to square the ball to Emmanuel Dennis looked like it had failed but the ball ran behind the covering Blades players, and Dennis was able to retrieve and moved it out to Sarr on the right.

He took a couple of strides forwards before picking out the unmarked Pedro in the area, and he fired past Wes Foderingham.

It was no more than the Hornets deserved after bossing the first half.

United didn’t quite know what to do with the Sarr/Pedro/Dennis combo up front, and the trio tormented them regularly. But for some deflections and a little bit more ruthlessness, the Hornets could have gone into the break ahead.

The best chance fell to Pedro, as he met Ken Sema’s floated cross with a header that the keeper held.

The Blades were restricted to breaks but there was a warning for the home side when Norwood ended one of them with a curling, dipping shot which Bachman had to tip over.

Having got the goal ten minutes into the second half, the Hornets then looked pretty comfortable.

United made a triple substitution to try and wrestle a foothold in the game, and by the end had used all five of their subs.

However, they seldom looked able to threaten the Watford lead, and the Hornets saw out the six minutes of stoppage time with some comfort.

A win and a clean sheet is something that hasn’t happened at Vicarage Road for more than a season, and the home fans certainly lapped it up. It’s been a long time since they left the ground singing along to Depeche Mode’s Just Can’t Get Enough.

Edwards will have been particularly pleased with the effort and commitment. His side chased and harried from the off, wanting to get the ball when they gave it away or were tackled.

It was a level of determination and endeavour that was seldom seen last season, and supporters will always get behind a team that runs the yards and covers the ground that Watford did tonight.

Much to enjoy and admire from a squad that can only get better over time.