Although Bristol Rovers may feel hard done by that they didn't quite manage to take the tie into extra-time, they can have no real complaints about the result, even though it took until two minutes from time for Watford to secure it.
Seven changes may have been made from the side that opened up the campaign with a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace, including full first-team debuts for young keeper Scott Loach and 17-year-old midfielder Ross Jenkins, but the Hornets again demonstrated the new ethos Aidy Boothroyd is attempting to instil from the outset.
The much-maligned direct approach that blew up spectacularly last season has been replaced by a more football-based, visually appealing approach that is founded on a 4-3-3 formation.
The end product still needs work, and a goalscorer would certainly help in that regard, but there was plenty to like about the build-up play for large parts of the game, with the three pronged strikeforce of Lionel Ainsworth, Hoskins and Theo Robinson linking and inter-changing to promising effect until Boothroyd decided to change things after the break.
Hoskins was the first to try his luck in a first-half that the home side dominated with a low 20-yard shot that forced Steve Phillips into a diving stop.
Robinson went closer still, chasing on to Hoskins' raking pass into the area before sliding it wide of the stranded keeper and just the wrong side of the right-hand post.
Despite being penned into their own area for the vast majority of the opening period, Rovers did muster the occasional promising foray forward, the best falling to Jeff Hughes on his left foot in the penalty area but his attempt turned into neither a pass nor shot.
The game degenerated into more of a stalemate after the break because while Watford continued to have the better of it, they struggled to create chances. But that all changed two minutes from time when a threaded pass from another debutant, substitute Billy Gibson, picked out Hoskins, and he calmly passed the ball beyond Phillips.