With fireworks and bonfires going off all around Teesside on Saturday evening, there was very little in the way of sparkle at the Riverside, but Scott McDonald's fortuitous 41st minute goal secured a valuable three points for Tony Mowbray's side.

In truth, it was an ugly performance from Boro and apart from McDonald's winning goal the most exciting thing about the game was a false fire alarm that went off midway through the first half, which almost saw the west stand evacuated.

But being able to eke out a result from such an ugly performance is something teams who are serious about promotion in the Championship will have to do at times.

With Southampton and West Ham United both winning earlier in the day, it was vital Boro went into the international break still in touch with the automatic promotion places.

The win lifted the Teessiders into third place and, despite admitting afterwards their display had been anything but easy on the eye, Mowbray praised his players for grinding out a win against a Watford side who sit fourth-bottom.

"We'll take it," Mowbray said. " I've talked about the importance of a second goal, because it knocks the stuffing out of teams. Once again we didn't get it but the pleasing thing is a clean sheet. We won the match and it's three points in the bag.

"We didn't play as well as we could but we got the result and that's the most important thing for us.

"It was hard work for me and I'm sure it was for the supporters too, but we go home with the relief of a one-nil win.

"I would hope that we could improve as the season goes on and keep the ball for longer spells. It's not a criticism because they showed fantastic resolve not to lose the game and that's back-to-back wins at home.

"Any team who have aspirations of doing well have to win the majority of their games at home, and you've got to win back-to-back somewhere along the line.

"Sometimes there are games you win by a couple of goals, which seems comfortable, but it's a very rare occasion.

"At times we had some good opportunities to score goals but didn't take them and it was always nervous at one-nil.

"A positive to take from this is that the team showed enough character in that type of game to grind out the win. Players like Barry Robson, Nicky Bailey and the defenders, Stephen McManus, Matthew Bates, Tony McMahon, etcetera showed a fabulous desire not to lose and won their battles on the pitch.

"If they had scored a late equaliser we might have been very deflated but it is another clean sheet for us and we can't complain about that. We have to just keep going."

That's exactly what Mowbray's men did against the Hornets and, despite missing several early chances that could have meant a more comfortable evening for the hosts, as on a number of occasions this season, Boro did it the hard way.

Robson could have put his side ahead after 16 seconds when he burst forward and unleashed a low shot that whistled inches wide of the post, while Scott Loach did well to deny a McDonald volley before Marvin Emnes rattled the side netting from a tight angle - all in the opening eight minutes.

Sean Dyche's men did well to weather the early onslaught and they were deeply unlucky to go behind four minutes before the break, when McDonald finally broke his barren run of 11 games without a goal.

Enjoying a rare start, Merouane Zemmama shimmied his way through the Watford midfield and laid the ball off to Robson.

He showed great vision to pick out McDonald with a first-time pass and, having watched his initial shot saved by Loach, the Australian scored from his second attempt, despite replays showing he was offside when the ball had been played through.

That was the striker's first goal since August 16 at Barnsley and, having stuck by his striker when he could have so easily brought someone else in, Mowbray admitted he was relieved to see the Australian score.

He said: "It has been said that it does take a little bit of luck for a striker to get out of a rut and so it proved with Scott.

"It was offside but we won't be complaining too much. Scott's got a big smile on his face as it's been a long time since he last scored. It's been very frustrating for him but let's hope that sets him off on a goal-scoring run.

"Sometimes a barren spell like that can create a bit of anxiety where you snatch at the odd chance. But now he's got a goal and hopefully he'll be striking the ball a little bit sweeter and timing his runs a bit better and the goals will start to flow."