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But the introduction of exciting youngster McNamee was the catalyst for Watford's victory.
As soon as the left-winger came on with 30 minutes left, he immediately started causing the visitors problems, and 12 minutes later flighted over a delightful cross that set Tommy Smith up for the Hornets opener.
This all but ended the Saddlers stubborn resistance, but any hopes they had of salvaging a point were killed off with five minutes remaining when Danny Sonner was dismissed for the most clear-cut sending off you are ever likely to witness.
In his attempts to retain possession Smith may have been backing into the former Birmingham City midfielder, but there was no excuse for the way he grabbed the Hornets striker round the throat from behind and flung him to the ground.
With McNamee still helping to pull the strings, Watford wrapped up the victory in injury time when Smith's perfectly weighted reverse pass sent Dominic Foley clear, and the Republic of Ireland international sprinted fully 30 yards before sliding the ball beneath keeper James Walker to register his first Hornets goal in more than two years.
A turgid, and frankly boring opening hour had seen few attempts on goal of note.
Sonner should have opened the scoring early on, but he badly mis-kicked with the goal at his mercy, while a Neil Cox header from a corner, Neal Ardley's 30-yard effort and a Smith chip from the edge of the area were Watford's only decent attempts on the Walsall goal