Sheffield United moved off the bottom of the Championship with a 1-0 victory over Watford at Bramall Lane.
Callum O’Hare was the match-winner, poking into an empty net just before the hour-mark to secure a first home win of the campaign for the Blades.
The victory moved United above city rivals Sheffield Wednesday into 23rd at the bottom of the table, while Javi Gracia lost in his first game back in charge of the Hornets following the sacking of Paulo Pezzolano.
It was a scrappy opening 45 with United having the better chances of the two sides.
The hosts had the first chance of the afternoon when Sam McCallum picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area and sent a half-volley whistling over the crossbar.
Watford number one Egil Selvik got down well to deny Mark McGuinness from a towering header.
Fellow centre-back Japhet Tanganga also saw his nodded effort kept out by the Norwegian goalkeeper in the last opportunity of the first half.
The Hornets spurned a huge chance within the first few moments of the second period.
On-loan left-back Caleb Wiley was played in down the left but he could only blast his shot wide of the near post.
Selvik was tested once more as McCallum’s free-kick was heading for the far corner if not for his intervention.
The Blades made the breakthrough in the 59th minute. Tyrese Campbell forced Selvik to parry away his low effort, Andre Brooks followed in to square across goal and O’Hare was there on the line to tap the ball home.
Watford brought on Tom Ince, Kwadwo Baah and Marc Bola straight after the goal in an attempt to get back into the game.
The visitors came agonisingly close to an equaliser as Imran Louza crashed the ball against the crossbar from inside the box with five minutes remaining.
Watford could have snatched a last-gasp leveller in the final kick of the game but defender Kevin Keben dragged the ball wide from close range following a long throw-in.
The final whistle came seconds later, which saw United claim their first maximum points haul at home and just their second altogether this season.
The managers
Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder:
“That roar at the final whistle shows why we follow our club on a Saturday afternoon. We do it for those moments.
“The players gave everything for the shirt today and I think the fans saw that. We played some really good stuff at times and especially the defenders in the second half were fabulous.
“Watford are a difficult team with many talented individuals. They may feel unfortunate to have not got more out of the game but I still feel we were the better side.
“We tried to attack Watford from the off and be bold in our formation. They did have some chances but I never felt we were massively under the cosh. I don’t think people realise how difficult it is to win a Championship game, especially with the situation we’re in.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard over last two weeks. We talked about where I thought we were and we recognised that we are the only ones who could rectify things.”
Watford’s Javi Gracia:
“We knew before coming here it would be a demanding game, a tough game. We knew Sheffield United were going to be very aggressive.
“We expected a better game and a better result but it didn’t happen for us today.
“I think in the beginning we controlled more of the game, attacking more than defending. In the second half the game was more even but they took their chance when it came.
“At the beginning of the second half we had the best chance of the game, if Caleb (Wiley) scores that the game is totally different. After that United dominated the game.
“I’m disappointed we haven’t got a better result. Egil (Selvik) made some big saves to keep us in the game. At the end we created a couple of chances but it was too late for us.”
