The intended irony of the tannoy playing Cece Peniston’s ‘Finally’ at the final of the 1-0 victory over Sunderland was not lost on Watford fans as they celebrated a home win for the first time since November 28.

Yet what was also impossible to ignore after this drab but much-needed win was that the Hornets have been pretty rubbish at home for many months.

It’ll take more than this afternoon to erase the grim offerings served up at Vicarage Road week after week over the last few months.

To go 152 days without taking three points in front of your own fans is something that cannot be repeated next season if Tom Cleverley wants to make a success of his permanent appointment as head coach.

The Hornets just about deserved to beat the Black Cats, and in a game of few chances and even less moments of real class, it was fitting that the highlight of the afternoon also provided the only goal – Ryan Andrews finishing lethally after a defence-splitting pass from Ismael Kone.

That a homegrown player should end the winless sequence might also be a sign of things to come, as Cleverley has already indicated he’ll need to canny in the summer in terms of recruitment.

It was a positive note to end the final home game of the season, but Vicarage Road form and performances are going to need to be much, much better from August onwards.

There was a first start for Academy product Jack Grieves, while Ken Sema returned to the starting XI along with Mattie Pollock.

Francisco Sierralta, Jamal Lewis and Ryan Andrews all dropped to the bench.

The first half was a very, very tame affair, with little in the way of action at either end and both sides struggling to string anything together, or even hold onto the ball.

In the sixth minute Yaser Asprilla played an early ball that got Vakoun Bayo a yard behind the visiting defence, but he shot very early from 30 yards and it ran straight to Patterson

Soon after Emmanuel Dennis started a move that ended with him running onto Asprilla's low pass into the box. The striker squared the ball but Bayo was just beaten to it by a defender.

There were so few chances with the game stuck in midfield and the ball continually given away by both sides.

In the 37th minute Ismael Kone ran from 40 yards out, checked but then dragged a shot tamely wide.

Five minutes before the interval Sunderland broke quickly from a Watford corner and had a three-on-two. The ball was worked to Rigg on the right, but with time and space he shot wide.

In stoppage time, Hume got in behind the defence after a cross was nodded down but Dan Bachmann deflected his close-range effort up and over the bar.

Watford made two half-time changes, sending on Ryan Andrews and Matheus Martins for Grieves and Dennis.

There was a brighter start to the second half and the visitors wasted a great chance when Watford didn't deal with a throw in, and Clarke made space inside the box but then shot wide.

In the 53rd minute Sema's cross from the left was half cleared, Kayembe met it on the volley just inside the box but his powerfully-struck effort was blocked by the knees of Patterson, who knew little about it.

Finally, in the 63rd minute, a moment of quality.

Kone slid a perfect pass between full-back and central defender and Andrews raced into the box and drilled it first-time across Patterson and into the bottom corner.

Eight minutes later Roberts slipped a ball into the feet of Ba but his angled rising shot was held by Bachmann.

With two minutes left the visitors wasted a great chance.

Semedo got away down the right and rolled the ball square. Roberts was a yard too far ahead of it and couldn't connect, but it ran to Styles. He took a touch and hit a firm shot that Bachmann blocked with his body.

Watford: Bachmann; Porteous, Pollock, Hoedt; Asprilla (Livermore 90), Kone, Kayembe, Grieves (Andrews ht), Sema (Lewis 68); Bayo (Rajovic 79), Dennis (Martins ht). Subs: Hamer, Sierralta, Ince, Morris