Rampaging Tigers end Boothroyd's dream of bouncing straight back to Premier League

Even his mask slipped, however temporarily, as the champagne flowed. Dripping wet and with his players taking the acclaim of a pitch full of delirious supporters, Brown recalled a pre-season trip to a referees' meeting that ended with him lost at Wembley.

Darius Henderson puts Watford back in the tie

He thought it was an omen. His journey there for the second time has been achieved with far greater precision. Brown has built a side with experience and the importance of that decision was key to the victory.

That Nick Barmby, born and bred in Hull, lay at the core of an emphatic two-legged win merely added to a belief that now could indeed be their time.

The 34-year-old has recently bemoaned his bit-part role in the emergence of a side who have gone from finishing fourth bottom last season to one which only missed out on an automatic promotion spot on the final day of the regular season.

Yet Brown turned to Barmby in the first leg and was rewarded with a goal. He got the same again last night. The timing of his equaliser was pivotal, coming as it did two minutes before the interval and at a time when every nerve of a city was shredded.

Darius Henderson did not just shoot Watford ahead in the 12th minute, he jarred belief and unleashed uncertainty. Even Brown conceded his side were struggling for 43 minutes, until Barmby seized his moment for the second time in four days.

He followed a looping header from Richard Garcia and saw it into the net with a diving header of his own. It altered everything. "It changed the dynamic of the half-time team talk," said Brown.

"It allowed me to be more constructive as against losing the plot. I was very concerned. I take my hat off to Aidy Boothroyd (the Watford manager). Their attitude was never-say-die, but I was really proud of our second-half performance."

Head man: Barmby nips in for Hull's equaliser

It was a different game after Barmby's goal and once Caleb Folan, another local, had emerged from the substitutes' bench to head a Barmby cross past Lee with 20 minutes remaining, Watford withered and died.

From then on, with supporters encroaching all around the KC Stadium pitch, it was simply how many Hull would get. With two minutes of remaining, Garcia broke from midfield and forgot all about the shoulder injury that threatened his season to fire past Lee.

Garcia was engulfed and his strike was quickly followed by a fourth, substitute Nathan Doyle seeing a deflected shot fly into the Watford goal.

"It is a tremendous night for the club," added Brown. "I feel like I'm putting a dampener on it, but we have to remember we haven't done the job yet. Nobody remembers a losing finalist. We are 90 minutes away from the Premier League.

"You can mention £60million, £70m or £80m (the prize for promotion) to a player and it will mean nothing to him. It's not the concern of any player how rich the final is. All they want to do is play in the Premier League."

That much was made painfully aware by Boothroyd's dark mood. "When it is not your time, it is not your time," said the Watford boss.

"We need to change a few things and we need to ship one or two people out. We need to change the way we play.

"We have to bounce straight back next season and I am absolutely confident I can do that. I won't be sulking."

Hull: Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Brown, Dawson, Garcia, Ashbee, Hughes, Barmby, Windass, Campbell. Subs: Duke, Doyle, Walton, Folan, Fagan.

Watford: Lee, Mariappa, DeMerit, Bromby, Sadler, Smith, Eustace, Williamson, McAnuff, Henderson, Ellington. Subs: Poom, Doyley, Priskin, O'Toole, Ainsworth.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)