United Manager Chris Hughton:

"There will be bad times to come, I am sure, but we have shown a lot of resilience and that is the mark of any side which is doing well, that resilience resulting in clean sheets. I am absolutely delighted with that.

"What we do know is we are going to have good days and bad days, and what we have so far shown is a resilience to cope with the bad days and, at times, get something from them.

"There are times when you can't speak highly enough of the group of lads you have, and that applies today.

“It was a wonderful goal (from Pancrate) and a wonderful time to score. Watford were certainly putting us under pressure and probing with their extra player, and we had to have an outlet.

“Fabrice turned out to be a good enough outlet and scored a super goal. He hadn’t played too many games this season, but we knew he came fit and free of injury.

“He’s certainly excited the crowd in the periods he’s come on, and the next step for him is to start games.

“We’ve no complaints on the second booking – although it certainly looked worse than it was, but there are complaints on the first one, which I didn’t think was a booking.

“It was a scrap. We were up against a good Watford side with a lot of young players and energy, but I can’t speak highly enough of this group of lads.

“That’s 11 clean sheets now, and if I look at what we’ve managed to achieve so far this season, that one has to be very high up.”

A sixth successive league victory saw table-topping United extend their unbeaten home record to eleven matches in all competitions this season, despite having Kevin Nolan sent off early in the second half.

The bare stats of the game - and the fact that we now sit four points clear of the Baggies and ten points clear of third-placed Forest - don't really tell the story of an afternoon when it may look like we won this with one hand tied behind our back, but the reality was a little different.

Attacking the Gallowgate End again in the first half, Newcastle's first real chance came when Jose Enrique motored down the wing before delivering a well-judged centre that Peter Lovenkrands couldn't direct goalwards. However the Hornets replied within a minute with a speedy counter attack that ended with Steven Taylor flicking the ball off his own line to deny Tynesider Danny Graham.
  

Chris Hughton's side took a 20th minute lead through Peter Lovenkrands, with the assist going to Marlon Harewood - who kept his place in attack, with Andy Carroll and Nile Ranger on the bench and Shola Ameobi not included. The on-loan Magpies forward had prompted some earlier Gallowgate grumbles after failing to challenge for a couple of loose balls, but did well when chasing down a loose ball.  

Further goals didn't materialise however and although Jonas Gutierrez probed down both wings, it was Steve Harper who was the busier of the two keepers - denying Heidar Helguson with a good block on 40 minutes.

Heavyweight boxer David Haye was on the pitch at half-time ahead of fellow WBA champion Amir Khan's Tyneside title bout on Saturday night, but it was a self-inflicted blow that set up an engrossing second half.

Kevin Nolan had been the recipient of a slightly harsh booking in the first half and within five minutes of the restart had been counted out by referee Jon Moss, after swiping the legs from under Henri Lansbury.

The ten of Newcastle remained solid although they were pinned against the ropes for much of the remaining 40 minutes - Hughton playing his part with some intelligent substitutions.

Aided by some slightly wayward finishing, United withstood some intense pressure from the Hornets as they reverted to the lone striker ploy that had seen them return from both Bramall Lane and Deepdale with hard-fought wins.

While Carroll led the line and took some punishment from visiting defenders, Nicky Butt appeared to try and shore up the midfield - and will presumably deputise for the now-suspended Nolan.

However it was the introduction of Fabrice Pancrate that was pivotal, as the Frenchman's keenness to get upfield tied up Watford players and gave his defence some much-needed breathing space. Two rare efforts on goal from the home side saw Carroll head over and then take an extra touch in the box, only to be crowded out as he attempted a shot.

However, Pancrate then delivered a memorable knockout blow with seven minutes remaining, scoring for the first time in English football with a contender for goal of the season.

That proved to be a hammer blow, but Harper again had to intervene to preserve a clean sheet. And with West Brom and Swansea both pegged back in added time, heavy defeats for Leicester, QPR and a late reversal for Blackpool made it an almost perfect day of results.

There were a number of similarities between this and the home victory over Swansea eight days previously, with the visitors again going away scratching their heads - looking on occasion a better attacking prospect than their Welsh counterparts.

They met a Newcastle side however who looked to be genuinely United and once again, proved that they have viable alternatives on the bench - a luxury not many other sides in this division seem to enjoy.

After a poor game last week, Jose Enrique looked back in the groove and our left flank was noticeably more effective. That was undoubtedly aided by a industrious 90 minute display from Jonas Gutierrez, who started and ended the game tracking back.

On the other wing meanwhile, Danny Guthrie still doesn't look massively happy in a wide role. By nature a central midfielder, it remains to be seen whether Butt replaces Nolan at Coventry. However the early form of Pancrate looks to give us another option down that right side.    

Biffa