Shefki Kuqi headed the Swans three points nearer the end of season play off party with the winner at Vicarage Road

Kuqi stooped to head home Craig Beattie's perfect cross in the first half which the keeper failed to keep out and the 1-0 Swansea City result worked it's magic again as the Swans moved an impressive 9 points clear of the 7th placed side.

With 11 games to go in the season you just almost know that 5 wins in those 11 will almost certainly secure the Swans position in the end of season play offs with automatic promotion an outside - but still achievable - possibility.

The steel that Paulo Sousa has drummed into his side was very evident tonight as they bounced immediately back from the weekend defeat at Forest and played their part in what was a very open first half where the home side will possibly count themselves unlucky not to get at least one goal whilst probably thankful that maybe the Swans only got one themselves.

Paulo lined his side up in a different formation to normal - including both Beattie and Kuqi in a more traditional 4-4-2 formation as follows

Dorus

Rangel     Tate     Williams     Richards

Gower     Britton     Pratley     Van Der Gun

Kuqi     Beattie

And having struggled to get the ball off Watford for the first give minutes you started to wonder whether it was the right decision but - as with most Paulo has done this season - you needen't have worried as the Swans immediately got themselves into the game.

Beattie worked his way free in the penalty area before firing a low shot that was well saved at the near post by the Watford keeper who was about to become a very busy man.   A perfect Van Der Gun cross minutes later was headed onto the outside of the base of the post by Kuqi who had nipped in in front of the keeper and will be disappointed he was unable to find the target.

Another header was presented to him shortly after this time from a Pratley cross with the result this time the header going straight at the keeper but by now Swansea were in their stride and every move looked likely to create danger for Watford.

The goal when it arrived was simplicity itself.   Swansea broke down a Watford move, Rangel found Gower who found Beattie on the right hand side.  He looked up and picked out Kuqi with the perfect cross and the striker headed towards goal with the keeper only able to parry the ball into the back of the net to send the 1,000+ travelling Jacks wild in celebration.  The players own celebration said much as they wound themselves up in celebration no doubt relieved to have grabbed the early breakthrough.

For much of the remainder of the first half the Swans though were under the cosh with the occasional respite still looking dangerous for the home side but we were reliant on one or two goalline clearances and a couple of sharp saves from Dorus.    Watford were also guilty of not being able to get shots on target when well placed and you did start to wonder as Waford pushed and pushed whether the one goal would be enough.

Maybe it wasn't uote relief when the half time whistle came but it was probably perfect timing as it allowed Sousa to rally his troops and build them again for the second half which, in comparison, was a much tighter affair with far fewer goal chances and those that did fall probably saw the Swans have the better of them.

Whatever Paulo had said at half time certainly had the result of seeing us take more control of the game although we probably still conceded the majority of possession to Watford who never gave up even if they did seem devoid of ideas for long periods of the second half.

Watford were not being afforded the space they were given in the first half and the Swans defence took more control of the game which in turn allowed us to set up a couple of dangerous breaks but in the main we were not going to break through as legs seemingly started to get tired.   Paulo recognised this and introduced Butler and Bauza into the fray to try and freshen things up but as the game wore on it became more evident that the one goal would be enough.   And sure enough it was when the referee called to a half the 5 and a half minutes of stoppage time he elected to play and allowed the Swans to celebrate their three points with the impressive travelling support who backed them from the opening whistle.

At the end of Saturday's report I predicted we would bounce back with a win tonight and that is exactly what we achieved and I believe we will get stronger now as Paulo takes us closer to our Premier League dream.  Whether he makes that dream a reality is yet to be seen but for now enjoy the ride because we could well be on the verge of something very special

ONWARDS...

Photo: Action Images

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