WATFORD Academy made the journey up to Huddersfield Town on Saturday (25 August) and returned to Hertfordshire with a hard-fought point following a 0-0 draw.

The young Hornets went into the game on the back of a disappointing 7-0 reverse on the opening day of the season and with this in mind the emphasis was very much on stopping the goals from going in.

The under 18s managed to do this and more than played their part in the second Academy fixture of the campaign. The Golden Boys played some good football during the first period and created several openings. Ross Jenkins and Dale Bennett lead from the back and stood up to the Huddersfield threat while Rob Kiernan and Kieron Forbes linked up well in midfield.

In attack Liam Henderson and Ewan Clarke were both lively and looked to grab the Hornets' first strike of the season. However disaster struck for Clarke towards the end of the first period when he was injured with a suspected broken leg - it later turned out to be ligament damage to his left ankle and the Nottingham-born youngster now faces a period on the sidelines.

Clarke's injury meant an appearance for Otshudi Fabrice who stepped up from the bench. The second half was more of a battle for David Dodds' side as Huddersfield started to stamp more authority on the game. Fabrice was looking lively in attack and came closest to opening the scoring but his effort was cleared after he beat the Town goalkeeper.

Aaron Morgan was given his marching orders around the hour mark meaning the 'Orns had to juggle their formation to deal with the loss of the wide player. The Hornets were put under pressure as Town started to use the extra man to their advantage - however the youngster held on and continued to fight right until the final kick of the game.

Dodds said: "The players worked hard in the week leading up to the game after the huge disappoint against Manchester City on the opening day of the season. It was a well deserved point in the end for the boys and I was pleased with the reaction from them. We managed to create some chances as well during the game and we'll now be looking to build on this result."        

WATFORD: North, Oshodi, Morgan, Forbes, Bennett, Jenkins, Maxwell, Kiernan, Clarke (Fabrice 46), Henderson, Gibson (Sordell) Subs not used: Whichelow, Owufu   

HUDDERSFIELD: Jameson, Harris, Killock, Codman, Pickering, Collinson (Williams 46), Nightingale, Jackson, Barlow, Pert (Durham 46), Broadbent Subs not used: Ridehalgh, Brook

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT ON YOUR MOBILE