A LATE save by England keeper Nigel Martyn, when he frustrated Tommy Smith's bid for a second goal, prevented Watford completing their trio of matches against the top teams with the perfect symmetry of three 3-2 defeats.

Throw in the similar scoreline in their reverse at the hands of Liverpool, and Watford can claim to have run the elite of the Premiership closer than the gulf reflected in the League table. It is ironic that such can be said on the day, the anchor place was confirmed as the Hornets' fate in this all-too-brief flirtation with the Premiership.

This was another brave and relatively disciplined performance by the Hornets, whose first-half display was of such a calibre that Leeds were forced to move into top gear in order to stave off the threat of an upset.

There was even the chance to entertain thoughts of Watford taking the lead in a spirited and often fluid first-half showing, and an indication of how much they had ruffled Leeds' feathers was to be gained from their interval substitution of Woodgate for Radebe in an effort to cancel out Watford's forward threat.

Once again, individual errors, albeit against talented and pacey opponents, proved to be their undoing. Bridges was given time to produce an unpressured shot, Duberry escaped his marker to score unhindered and the backing off in the face of Huckerby's dribble into the penalty area afforded Leeds the chance to cement their claim on the much-needed three points soon after the interval.

Amidst those errors, there were some good and solid performances. Palmer was outstanding against Bakke, completing ten days in which he has contested the midfield against the likes of Vieira, Petit, Butt and now the Leeds man. He even finished with a salvo of solid shots, one of which had Martyn scrambling to block.

Another success was Cox, who had a tenacious night suppressing the virtuosity of Kewell. He, too, came out on top with a dogged display.

Of the youngsters, Ward had another steady night - Perpetuini, playing in more of a midfield role, contested with the best of them, and Smith, lively and a thorn in Leeds' side in the first half, gained some experience towards his learning curve when coming up against the fast-tackling Woodgate after the break.

Plainly, Leeds were determined that Smith would not be given time to bring the ball down, turn and take on the opposition, as he had done in the first half, and the next step in his progress will be overcoming those who robustly refuse him room to manoeuvre.

In attack, Foley had the joy of netting his first Premiership goal and forcing the best out of Martyn with another shot, after great work by Smith.

Mooney and Wooter came on later, but, as with Helguson before them, they had to forage back deep because of the difficulty in getting into the game.

A workmanlike performance with outbreaks of promise. If Taylor is using the run-in as a form of pre-season practice, there are encouraging signs.

As for the action, a fourth-minute run by Smith finished with a snap-shot from Foley which went just wide with Martyn appearing to be beaten. Then Leeds went close when Huckerby passed inside to Bowyer who curled a shot just beyond Day's far post.

Ward should have tested the keeper when he got on the end of a Perpetuini cross, but nodded over the bar after 16 minutes, just prior to two goals tilting the fortunes first one way then the other.

Leeds came storming back after the Hornets' equaliser and a goalmouth scramble to a left-wing cross was won by Watford at the expense of a corner. From this, they charged down or blocked two shots before a fourth went wide.

Watford came close to taking the lead when Smith got the better of Duberry, cut inside, resisted a challenge on the by-line before knocking the ball to Foley. His shot was superbly tipped over by Martyn.

After Huckerby had increased the lead in the second half, he looked to repeat his run against Page but his final shot was blocked. Then McPhail chipped just over the bar and Bowyer sent a raking drive just wide of the far post.

When Bridges was played in by Woodgate, he too should have tested Day but his low show went inches wide of the far post.

Breaking this run of shooting practice, Smith darted away on the right and his low cross was whisked from the path of the oncoming Mooney by a desperate clearance for a corner.

Leeds continued to have the better of the play, squandering good or promising approach work with indifferent finishing, with Watford battling to the end but rarely threatening until a late flurry. Then Hyde put Smith through for a clear shot from ten yards but his effort was blocked by the diving Martyn. The keeper also made a blocking save to Palmer who had another effort deflected away from goal.