Jermaine Beckford pounced on a mistake by Manuel Almunia to give Bolton Wanderers a 1-0 half-time lead at Watford this afternoon.

Beckford came close after 12 minutes, but headed wide from Neil Danns's deep cross.

Danns then came close himself with an ambitious overhead kick, while Josh McEachran saw his effort blocked at the other end.

Bolton took the lead in the 27th minute when Almunia saw a cross bobble through his legs, where Beckford was left with the simple task of passing the ball into an empty net.

Watford continued to attack though, and Fernando Forestieri combined well with Daniel Pudil, but the former saw his curling effort drop wide of the far post as Bolton went into the break with a one-goal advantage.