Daniele Dichio, goalscoring hero of West Brom's 1-0 win at Wimbledon on Saturday, proved their saviour again as he salvaged a point at The Hawthorns.

On-loan defender Wayne Brown had given Watford the lead seven minutes after the restart, firing the ball home right-footed from 20 yards following a Stephen Glass free-kick.

But Dichio equalised in the 77th minute when he headed home a cross by Neil Clement, although with Manchester City winning just down the road at St Andrews it did little for West Brom's hopes of automatic promotion.

The game got off to a disappointingly quiet start and Watford's Alec Chamberlain was the first goalkeeper called into action when he held a 25-yard Adam Chambers shot after four minutes.

That proved the only action of note in the opening exchanges and it was not until 19 minutes had elapsed that Chamberlain had to exert himself again, this time clutching a 20-yard effort from Andy Johnson.

Brown was booked for dissent in the 25th minute and shortly afterwards Allan Nielsen should have done better than send a volley wide from the Hornets' first real chance.

West Brom defender Phil Gilchrist prevented easily the best scoring opportunity of a poor first half from ending in a goal as he got in the way of Tommy Smith's close-range shot after 32 minutes.

As Gianluca Vialli's side started to show greater attacking potency, Neil Cox fired a free-kick over the crossbar and Brown found himself sailing close to the wind as he fouled Scott Dobie but escaped a second caution.

Instead, it was team-mate Paul Robinson who went into the referee's notebook for a foul on Baggies striker Dichio in stoppage time, just before Dobie sent a header over from a Clement cross.

Five minutes into the second half, Chambers was shown the yellow card for complaining against the decision to penalise him for a foul on Robinson and West Brom were instantly punished further when Brown struck.

Gary Megson soon sent on Jordao and Bob Taylor in place of Chambers and Derek McInnes - who was back in the side after suspension - to try and get West Brom back on terms but his team continued to struggle.

Smith could have doubled Watford's lead after 63 minutes when he produced a left-foot shot from the edge of the area but it was held by Russell Hoult.

Then came Megson's last throw of the dice as he substituted defender Tony Butler for tricky winger Ruel Fox and just when it looked as though the home side had run out of ideas, Dichio pounced.

The two goalscorers were in the thick of the action again four minutes from time as Brown blocked a Dichio shot, while Igor Balis sent a West Brom free-kick over the crossbar.

But neither side could net a winner and it means Watford have now won only once in their last 13 matches.

Teams

West Brom: Hoult, Sigurdsson, Butler (Fox 66), Gilchrist, Balis, Adam Chambers (Jordao 58), McInnes (Taylor 58), Johnson, Clement, Dobie, Dichio.

Subs Not Used: Adamson, Lyttle.

Booked: Adam Chambers.

Goals: Dichio 77.

Watford: Chamberlain, Cox, Galli, Brown, Robinson, Nielsen, Hyde, Hand (Fisken 68), Glass, Smith, Gayle (Helguson 82).

Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Noel-Williams, Doyley.

Booked: Brown, Robinson.

Goals: Brown 52.

Att: 19,580

Ref: R Harris (Oxford).