ROVERS suffered a gut-wrenching late defeat at a bitterly cold Vicarage Road this afternoon to leave them 11 points behind the play-offs.

Gary Bowyer’s side totally dominated the second half but they were made to pay for their failure to take the hosts of chances they carved out almost at will – the best of which fell to Jordan Rhodes – when Odion Ighalo netted what proved to be the winner seven minutes from the end of normal time.

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The result means Rovers are now 11 points behind the sixth-placed Hornets in the Championship standings.

There had been 41 goals in the previous 11 meetings between the teams and, while they were unable to add to that tally in a hard fought and even first half, they both had their moments.

Free-scoring Watford, 7-2 and 5-0 winners in their previous two home games, showed first in the 10th minute when they launched a rapid counter-attack that ended with Ikechi Anya playing in Miguel Layun.

The Mexico international had markers either side of him but he managed to get his shot off which Jason Steele did well to push behind given its ferocity.

And, from the resulting Layun corner, Steele was called into action again when he produced a more comfortable stop from the unmarked Gabriele Angella.

Rovers, unchanged for the first time since September’s reverse clash at Ewood Park, otherwise defended soundly throughout, captain Grant Hanley outstanding on his 150th appearance for the club.

They also created problems at the other end of the field with the excellent Chris Brown, in particular, a constant thorn in the Hornets’ side.

The targetman saw one header from a Craig Conway corner deflect over and another from a free kick, delivered by the same player, loop inches wide.

Brown also flicked on a raking pass upfield to strike-partner Rhodes who, on the run and from an angle, fizzed a first-time effort just over the angle of bar and post.

But it was Watford who had the best spell of pressure of the half when Markus Olsson brilliantly blocked a goal-bound strike from Troy Deeney who was then denied a clear run at goal by an equally important interception from Matt Kilgallon.

However it was Rovers who went closest to breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half-time after Gianni Munari became the third Hornets player to go into referee Andrew Madley’s book when he cynically hauled down Rhodes 30 yards from goal.

And from the resulting free kick Ben Marshall curled the ball over the wall and toward the bottom corner where man-of-the-match Heurelho Gomes showed razor-sharp reflexes to tip it around the post.

Rovers started the second half much the stronger and Rhodes saw two big chances come and go in the space of seven minutes.

The first of which came from an inviting Marshall cross but Angella did enough to put the striker off with his header drifting harmlessly wide.

Hornets goalkeeper Gomes then flapped at a Conway cross and when the ball broke to Rhodes 12 yards out, he steadied himself and saw his left-footed shot superbly blocked by Angella.

Watford boss Slavisa Jokanovic had clearly seen enough and threw on a third striker in Matej Vydra.

His opposite number responded by replacing Marshall and the tireless Brown with Tom Cairney and fit-again top-scorer Rudy Gestede.

And Cairney was straight into the action, releasing Conway to cut inside and warm the hands of Gomes with a 20-yard side-footer.

But the Brazilian should have been given no chance moments later.

A floated Jason Lowe cross to the back post was nodded down by Gestede to Rhodes who had the goal at his mercy.

But his low shot was somehow turned around the post by Gomes who then made a spectacular save to push over a Conway pile-driver as Rovers continued to ramp up the pressure.

The former Tottenham Hotspur stopper then denied Conway again, this time from a free kick, but only after Cairney had fired over from the edge of the area when he should have at least hit the target.

It came totally against the run of play, then, when a Layun corner was hooked home by Ighalo, his effort being turned in off the post by Steele.

Watford: Gomes, Cathcart, Angella, Hoban (Vydra 60), Paredes, Layun (Tozser 89), Watson (Abdi 75), Munari, Anya, Ighalo, Deeney. Subs not used: Bond, Doyley, Pudil, Forestieri.

Booked: Paredes, Cathcart, Munari.

Goal: Ighalo 83.

Rovers: Steele, Lowe, Hanley, Kilgallon, Olsson, Conway, Evans, Spearing (King 82), Marshall (Cairney 67), Brown (Gestede 67), Rhodes. Subs not used: Eastwood, Baptiste, Spurr, Taylor.

Booked: Spearing, Kilgallon.

Referee: Andrew Madley.

Attendance: 15,011 (720 away).