It’s not often I leave a Watford game with goose-bumps. However, that was the case on Sunday after I walked away from Vicarage Road. In fact, I’ve still got them now.

I think it’s fair to say most Watford fans looked on with a mixture of disbelief and jubilation, as the Hornets earnt a 3-1 win over Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United in front of the BT Sport cameras.

It’s not as if the Golden Boys scored two lucky goals in the final ten minutes to secure the victory.

Contrary to Jose Mourinho’s remarks after the game, Watford weren’t ‘lucky’ and it wasn’t due to referee Michael Oliver’s performance that Manchester United lost the game.

Far from it. Watford were fully deserving of the three points and I don’t think anyone can deny that.

I didn’t think we would ever see a performance which would better Watford’s display against Liverpool last December for some time. But, how wrong was I?

Sunday’s performance against Manchester United was easily the best performance I’ve ever seen from a Watford side in my time as a fan. It will be a match that I and many others can reflect on in years to come and say ‘I was there’.

The Hornets were magnificent right from the first whistle, as they stifled Manchester United and stopped them from playing. We hassled and harried the United players in possession, forcing them to make uncharacteristic mistakes, and when we had the ball we played some fantastic football.

Each player knew their roles and was prepared to put their body on the line and as a result, it’s hard to fault any of the Watford players on the pitch as they were all magnificent.

Head coach Walter Mazzarri deserves a lot of praise for his role in our victory as he got his tactics spot on. The 4-1-4-1 formation the Italian deployed worked a treat and it meant that the Golden Boys were difficult to break down.

The substitutes the Italian made all had an impact on the game and it’s fair to say his decision to bring on Juan Camilo Zuniga was a game changer. Within 53 seconds, the Colombian international had put the Hornets 2-1 up and in stoppage time, Zuniga was the man who won the penalty after a fantastic run from fellow substitute Isaac Success.

All of the Watford players were superb on Sunday, but there was one individual who really stood out for me and that was Sebastian Prodl. He was phenomenal and I would go as far as saying that his performance was one of the best defensive displays I’ve seen from a Watford centre-half.

He was given the unenviable task of marking Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Austrian barely gave him a sniff. Prodl won pretty much everything in the air and he frustrated one of the world’s best strikers all game. Rumour has it that the Swedish international is still in Prodl’s back pocket now.

Aside from this, Big Seb was also calm and composed at the back and he pulled off a number of fantastic challenges, the pick of which coming late in the first-half when he somehow slid into nick the ball away from Ibrahimovic who was powering through on goal.

It’s harsh to just pick out one player as they were all outstanding on Sunday, but the performance of Prodl deserves plenty of praise. It’s crazy to think the Austrian might not have even started had Younes Kaboul been fit.

But let’s not take too much credit away from the players and management as they all played a pivotal part in one of the best Watford displays in years.

In the space of six or seven years we’ve gone from being a mid-table Championship side, which was on the brink of administration at one point, to a team which is capable of beating one of the best outfits in the Premier League. It’s unbelievable to see how far this wonderful club has come in such a short space of time.

What a fantastic time to be a Watford fan and I’m now dreaming about what this side could achieve this season under the guidance of Mazzarri.

Bradley Hayden is the founder and sole writer of @WatfordFCBlog