WATFORD saw off the challenge of League One Gillingham and earned their second victory of the week to set them up for the visit of Sheffield United at the weekend.

It was a change of personnel after Saturday's victory at Molineux but the 3-0 win at Vicarage Road tonight will have given boss Aidy Boothroyd plenty of nice selection headaches.

The Gills came to Hertfordshire with a well-organised side but they were killed off by two first half strikes and were fighting a losing battle after going down to 10 men early in the second half.  

As expected Boothroyd made 10 changes from the side which started the season in such dramatic fashion against Wolves on Saturday. The bench too was a new one and it certainly had a youthful feel about it. It included second year Academy scholars Ewan Clarke and Kieron Forbes, their first respective inclusion with the first team squad in a competitive game.

Alex Campana, Scott Loach and Junior Osborne completed the bench, with Osborne making his return to action following his long injury lay-off. Matt Jackson was captain for the evening as he made his debut for the Hornets. His night ended after just 28 minutes though as he went off with a face injury, after spending a lengthy period of time in the treatment room Osborne came on to replace the ex-Everton man.

The first home clash of the season saw the heavens open before kick off at Vicarage Road and the wet surface made sure for an interesting game with both goalkeepers on their guard for any low powerful shots.

Anthony McNamee, playing on the left side of midfield, started brightly and let Gillingham's Nicky Southall know he was in for a busy evening. The diminutive winger won an early free kick and his floated ball into the box was headed over by Steve Kabba, who started the game after his substitute appearance on Saturday.    

Gillingham captain Andrew Crofts tried to wet the gloves of Richard Lee early on but his shot flew over the bar after a clever knock-down on the edge of the Hornets' box.

With McNamee, Kabba and Will Hoskins playing on the right side of midfield the Golden Boys were blessed with pace and used this to their advantage by trying to break quickly whenever the opportunity arose.   

Despite a reasonable start by the home side it was the visitors who had the best opportunity to open the scoring when they were awarded a penalty at the Rookery end by referee Kevin Friend.

He pointed to the spot after centre half Simon King was adjudged to have been bundled over in the packed penalty box after a Nicky Southall corner kick. Up stepped striker Gary Mulligan but his low drive was saved by Lee low down to his left. 

From the resulting break the 'Orns went straight down the other end but Al Bangura's wide pass to Kabaa flew out of touch on the slippery surface. The deadlock was broken after 20 minutes when Douglas Rinaldi's cross picked out Tamas Priskin and the striker headed past the diving Simon Royce at the Vicarage Road end.  

The Hornets' lead nearly only lasted a matter of seconds though as the Gills found themselves in the Watford penalty area but the melee of players couldn't poke the ball past Lee.

When Jackson left the field, Aidy Mariappa moved to centre half alongside Cedric Avinel and Osborne slotted into the right back position which had temporarily been occupied by Rinaldi following the injury to the experienced defender.

The second goal came on 35 minutes as Rinadi's powerful free kick from the edge of the penalty box proved was too much to handle for Royce between the sticks.

Substitute Delroy Facey tried to make an immediate impact after his appearance on the pitch for Gillingham but Lee was looking steady in the Hornets' goal and kept hold of the ball on the slippery surface.

With half time approaching Hoskins tried his luck from the right but his cross-come-shot flew low across the face of goal. Priskin then had a golden opportunity to make it three but Simon King was the hero for the Gills as his last ditch challenge denied the Hungarian after a long punt down field by Lee. 

HALF TIME: WATFORD 2 GILLINGHAM 0

The first talking point of the second half came on 51 minutes when the League One side were reduced to 10 men. Defender Efe Sodje was given his marching orders after bringing down Rinaldi as the Brazilian looped the ball over Sodje's head. Referee Friend was on top of the incident and had no hesitation in producing the card despite the protests of the defender and the Gills' bench.

Gillingham shuffled their pack and went to a 4-3-2 formation. The sending off gave more space to the Hornets and they were happy to try and pass the ball around and stretch the game.  Through this they were forcing corners down the left flank and McNamee was trying to whip balls in whenever he could. After one corner his low cross just failed to miss an out-stretched Kabba by a matter of inches.

First year pro Alex Campana entered the action on 59 minutes, now the Golden Boys were effectively playing with three in attack. The Academy graduate went wide right with Hoskins switching to a more central role. The youngster was hitting the by-line whenever he could and trying to grind down the resilient Kent based side further.

Boothroyd was forced into a change after 66 minutes when Parkes was stretchered from the field down by the East Stand - he was replaced by debutant Kieron Forbes. The young midfielder slotted into the centre of the park with Rinaldi moving to right back and Osborne changing full back positions.   

The Hornets made it 3-0 after 71 minutes with Campana grabbing his first goal at senior level. After a deep cross from the left the wide man was unmarked at the far post to head home past the frustrated Royce.

Watford were now home and dry but they continued to try their luck in front of goal. Al Bangura saw his shot fly over the bar while Hoskins' low shot from the edge of the box was saved by Royce.  

Gillingham should have had their consultation goal when captain Crofts had a free header in the box after a corner kick , but he could only glace his effort wide.

McNamee got better as the game went on and with the Gills stretched the winger gave Southall a torrid time at right back. He was running at his man and swinging crosses in whenever he could. The winger was rewarded for his efforts with the man-of-the-match award and will gain plenty of confidence from his inspiring performance.

So far, so good for 2007/08. Roll on the visit of Sheffield United on Saturday.  

WATFORD (4-4-2): Lee; Parkes (66 Forbes), Avinel, Jackson (c) (Osborne 28), Mariappa; Bangura, McNamee, Rinaldi, Hoskins; Kabba, Priskin (Campana 59). Subs not used: Loach (gk), Clarke,

GILLINGHAM (4-4-2): Royce, Southall, Sodje, King, Armstrong; Crofts (c), Stone, Bentley, Brown (Colgan 82); Graham (Pugh 82), Mulligan (Facey 29). Subs not used: Stillie (gk), Clohessy

BOOKINGS: WATFORD; Rinaldi (foul, 38), Kabba (simulation 42) GILLINGHAM; Crofts (foul 69), Southall (foul 84)  

SENDINGS OFF: WATFORD; none GILLINGHAM; Sodje (professional foul 51)

GOALS: WATFORD; Priskin (20), Rinaldi (35), Campana (71) GILLINGHAM; none

REFEREE: Mr K Friend

ATTENDANCE: 8,166