Watford have their first Premiership point on the board following a fine display in a 1-1 draw with West Ham, but it might have been all three but for a lapse in concentration after taking the lead. 
A magnificent Marlon King 25-yard thunderbolt gave the Golden Boys a thoroughly deserved second-half lead following wave after wave of attacking pressure, but within minutes Paul Konchesky had broken through down the left and his cross towards the near post was neatly volleyed home by Bobby Zamora via the underside of the cross bar.
As with their opening day defeat at Everton, when they were the victims of a shocking penalty decision, Watford could again claim that luck was against them, because King had been unfortunate to see a first-half volley rebound away off the woodwork.
But even so there was still plenty to encourage the home fans ahead of this weekend's visit of Manchester United.
The home side set out their attacking stall from the opening whistle, and with Jay DeMerit and Hameur Bouazza, both substitutes on Saturday happily restored to the starting line-up, the team had a better shape to it, but it was West Ham who had the first decent opportunity when Chris Powell was caught in possession by Marlon Harewood, and only some excellent covering defending by the American, DeMerit kept the striker at bay.
The game became a battle for midfield supremacy as the half progressed with Watford captain, Gavin Mahon and Damien Francis in particular, enjoying an engaging tussle with the Hammers' Nigel Reo-Coker and Lee Bowyer.
However, the visitors' big first-half let-off came when Bouazza marauded away virtually the full-length of the pitch and his cross towards the near post was met by King, who tried to cleverly steer the ball wide of the Roy Carroll, only to see his attempt strike the base of the keeper's left hand upright and bounce back into play and safety.
Ashley Young was also close with an overhead kick that drifted just wide as
It took some smart defending from the talented John Paintsil to prevent Bouazza connecting with a cross early in the second half, while at the other end Konchesky headed a reasonable opportunity straight at Ben Foster after rising above a static Lloyd Doyley.
But the goal
Yet the lead was to last just two minutes as Zamora scored his third goal of the season via the underside of the crossbar after Watford failed to deal with Konchesky's penetrating cross. There were suggestions of hand ball in the build up to the goal, Harewood inadvertently steering the ball into the path of Reo-Coker, but thereafter the goal was of the highest order.
But West Ham could have had few complaints had Watford gone on to score a second which they so nearly did when, first, Danny Shittu narrowly headed a Bouazza corner over, before Carroll's superb reflexes spared Anton Ferdinand's blushes after the England Under-21 defender had diverted a King cross towards his own net.
The Golden Boys' search for a winner continued late into the game with substitute Tamas Priskin narrowly failing to hook in a Shittu flick-on, before the energetic Francis just failed to get on the end of a King cross, but the hosts ultimately had to be content with a point. 
Golden Boys man of the match: Damien Francis. A difficult nomination when so many Watford players played well, but Francis' never-say-die attitude just gave him the nod over Marlon King and others.