BOTH academy teams went down to physically stronger Wolves sides at the weekend, and Watford's youth team boss David Hockaday was particularly dismissive of the under 19's game.

"It was a very poor game," he said of the 2-1 defeat.

"Anthony McNamee was once again outstanding, creating a host of chances and hitting the crossbar from 35 yards. He was the only player of note on the entire field."

Watford conceded a poor goal in the first minute, but created three good chances before they deservedly equalised on 35 minutes when McNamee crossed for Ben Alexander to head home.

Within a minute, a truly awful defensive mix-up allowed Wolves to regain the lead, and Watford never really recovered.

Watford had more of the possession, but did not do much with it in a poor second half.

Meanwhile, the under 17s, once again forced to field an extremely young team, found themselves physically intimidated by Wolves during a 1-0 defeat.

They were a goal down after 15 minutes before they started to live with the opposition.

Rob Martin and Leon Fisher proved outstanding running at the Wolves defence from wide positions and Newing, Walsh and Young all went close.

Wolves tired in the second half, but although Watford created several good chances, they were unable to equalise. Fisher again dribbled past several players before missing; Coyne sent a half-volley half wide and Young, Walsh and Cliff worked the keeper with efforts.

"In the face of the opposition's very physical approach, I was very pleased with our performance," said coach David Dodds.

November 9, 2001 10:30