A disappointed Tom Cleverley felt his Watford Under-18 side didn’t show what they were capable of but was quick to acknowledge Manchester City’s qualities after the young Hornets were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup following a 2-0 defeat at Vicarage Road.

The Watford youngsters came into tonight’s third round tie off the back of a strong run of seven games unbeaten in all competitions and five straight victories in the Professional Development League Under-18 South Division to leave in second place in the table.

But their Under-18 Premier League opponents were quickly into their stride, retaining possession and looking to create opportunities in trademark City fashion, and they took the lead just after the quarter-hour when Matty Warhurst read Josh Mullins’ intentions to score from close range.

Although they struggled to trouble City defensively in the first half, Watford went into the break only one goal down, but an already difficult task became much harder when Jaden Heskey – son of former England striker Emile – scored within three minutes of the restart.

The visitors could have won by a wider margin but Watford didn’t let their heads drop and the introduction of Zavier Massiah-Edwards from the bench added some impetus to their attacking play. However, the fact City keeper True Grant only to deal with one on-target attempt – and that was a routine save – spoke volumes as his side progressed into the fourth round in a professional and comfortable manner.

“It’s difficult to come up against such a good side on what’s the biggest stage of the season,” Watford’s Under-18 lead coach Cleverley said. “I didn’t think we got to showcase how good we were because, in the main, they were so good. They kept the ball really well and caused us massive problems with overloading areas.

“I think we started the game off with a little bit too much anxiety and let City get into a rhythm and that’s always difficult to knock them out of that when they’re so good on the ball. I’m disappointed that we didn’t fully get stuck into the game from minute one.”

Cleverley felt his side “reacted well” after the break and praised Massiah-Edwards for adding some “intensity and aggression” but admitted: “When we got in those good areas we just lacked a little bit of belief in the final product or the final third.

“The lads will be disappointed because it’s not what we’ve seen for large parts of the season and unfortunately we’ve not shown it on the big stage tonight.”

The visitors sought to make the early running with Emilio Lawrence fizzing in a low cross from the left, Hornets defender Albert Eames then reacting first to deny the City left winger after a deep, dangerous corner to the far post, before Matty Warhurst saw an acrobatic effort deflected wide for City.

But the Premier League club made the breakthrough when Farid Alfa-Ruprecht beat two defenders on the right to get to the byline before playing the ball into the six-yard box where Hornets skipper Mullins sought to put it out for a corner, only for Warhurst to slide in and intercept to score from close range.

Watford keeper Gabriel Ortelli saved another Lawrence effort while Amar Sanghrajka blocked a Heskey shot as City remained in control until the break.

If they couldn’t get an equaliser early in the second half, the Hornets would have hoped to keep the deficit to one goal to keep the tie alive for as long as possible. But those hopes were dashed within three minutes of the restart when Heskey calmly lifted the ball over Ortelli to score after a neat exchange with Divine Mukasa on the edge of the penalty area.

Warhurst fired over and Lawrence hit the post as City looked to turn the screw before some last-ditch defending kept the visitors out again after Ortelli’s poor throw out had gifted possession away.

The home side kept plugging away though, and created their first on-target attempt when Michael Adu-Poku’s rising drive was saved by Grant following good work by Massiah-Edwards.

Sanghrajka then shot wide from the edge of the area after some sloppy play at the back by the City keeper, but City continued to have opportunities as Ortelli saved well from Alfa-Ruprecht before substitute Christian Dunbar-McDonald curled wide.

The evening ended on a sour note for Watford captain Mullins who, having been booked for a foul on Warhurst, was shown a second yellow card for pulling back substitute Alfie Harrison in the centre circle in stoppage time.

Watford Under-18s: Ortelli; Eames, Mullins, Casey, Vancea (Wachowicz 78); Ramirez-Espan, Sanghrajka; Adu-Poku, Sikiru, Nabizada (Obiase 62); Lawson (Massiah-Edwards 62). Subs not used: Morris, Sala, Bolding, Shevchenko.

Manchester City Under-18s: Grant; Carrington, Simpson-Pusey, Samuel, Mfuni; Heskey, Gray, Mukasa; Alfa-Ruprecht, Warhurst (Dunbar-McDonald 85), Lawrence (Muir 62). Subs not used: Wint, Okeke, Harrison, Parker.

Attendance: 1,255.