ONCE the disconsolate Rovers players had lifted their heads they may have caught sight of the lyrics to Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ that are wrapped around the stand named after him at Vicarage Road.

But after this, the most gut-wrenching of defeats, they would have found ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’ more apt.

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Rovers had out-fought, out-thought and, for large parts, out-played the team they must catch if they are to break back into the top six.

But their failure to take any of the numerous opportunities that came their way always left them open to a sucker-punch.

And, with a horrible sense of inevitability, that sucker-punch duly arrived seven minutes from the end of normal time when Odion Ighalo hooked home from a poorly defended corner to earn Watford a win they did not deserve.

But, if we are being blunt, Rovers had no-one but themselves to blame given the dominance they enjoyed in one of the most one-sided halves of football you will see.

That said it would be unfair to stick the boot in when they are down as this was arguably their best performance of what has been a deeply frustrating season.

Gary Bowyer has come in for criticism during Rovers’ wretched run of form that has seen them slip 11 points behind the play-offs after finally forcing their way into them.

But he set up his side superbly here and his players executed his game plan almost to perfection.

The Hornets had netted 12 goals in their two previous home matches but, with Rovers pressing high up the field, their prolific strikers had to feed on scraps.

And, when the ball did get through to Ighalo and Troy Deeney, more often than not Grant Hanley and Matt Kilgallon were there to snuff out the danger.

Hanley was fortunate to get his place back after Shane Duffy’s excellent display in the FA Cup victory over Premier League side Swansea City.

But the Rovers captain has played well since his Wolves horror show and here, on what was his 150th appearance for the club, he was outstanding.

Just as impressive was Chris Brown. For 67 minutes he bullied the Watford backline before he was replaced by fit-again top-scorer Rudy Gestede.

A goal is all Brown is missing at the moment but that should not have mattered on an afternoon when his strike-partner Jordan Rhodes had enough opportunities for the both of them.

It does not bear thinking about where this club would be had it not been for Rhodes’ goals in his debut campaign at Ewood Park.

But it has not quite happened for him yet this season and, like in the defeat at Bolton Wanderers and the draw at Wigan Athletic, he spurned chances that you would have backed him to put away.

There was no questioning Rhodes’ desire to get on the end of them and credit must go to Heurelho Gome for the series of stunning stops he made.

Both goalkeepers had little to do in a hard-fought first half that started with Jason Steele saving from Miguel Layun and ended with his opposite number pushing a Ben Marshall free kick past the post.

In between the tireless Brown looked the best bet for a goal, sending one header wide, one inches past the post and another into the path of Rhodes who blasted a rising drive over.

Against a side who struggle with direct and physical opponents Rovers were quick to play the ball long in the opening period, sometimes too much so.

But they got it down more after the break and they should have been out of sight long before Ighalo broke the hearts of the magnificent 720 travelling supporters.

Under pressure Rhodes headed an inviting Marshall cross wide and then saw a goal-bound shot blocked after Gomes flapped at a Craig Conway cross.

Then, after Gestede knocked a Jason Lowe cross down into his path, Rhodes should have buried the ball instead of seeing it turned aside by Gomes.

The Brazilian then denied Conway, quite brilliantly, from distance and then from a free kick closer in.

But substitute Tom Cairney should have given Gomes no chance when Conway teed him up on the edge of the box.

It came as a sickening blow, then, when Ighalo got in between Gestede and Rhodes to score, leaving Rovers’ play-off hopes, to quote another song from Watford’s life president, flickering like a candle in the wind.