Two stoppage-time goals broke Watford Under-21’s hearts tonight as they were beaten 2-1 by Everton at Walton Hall Park.

It was the Hornets opening game in this season’s Premier League Cup, and they seemed set to leave the north-west with a win when Jake Watkiss netted his second goal in an as many games with less than half an hour to go.

However, the home side levelled it up a minute into time added on, and then Charlie Daniels’ suffered the agony of losing the game in the 95th minute.

As well as the Toffees, Group F also contains Cardiff City and Ipswich Town, with each side playing the others home and away.

The top two from the group will progress to the knockout phase, which is a round of 16 teams.

With Bedford Town not having a game this weekend, on-loan defender Josh Mullins was able to make the trip to the north-west.

The team contained a sprinkling of first-team experience with Leo Ramirez-Espain, Albert Eames, Tobi Adeyemo, Michael Adu-Poku and Zavier Massiah-Edwards all starting.

Meanwhile summer signing from Brazilian side, defender Keiky Almeida, started a second game for the Under-21s.

George Abbott had the first chance of the night but saw Everton keeper George Pickford save.

Tobi Adeyemo then shot into the side-netting after a quick break initiated by Massiah-Edwards, before Mullins made an excellent tackle to deny the home side a chance.

Then, just before half-time, Mullins picked up an injury and had to be replaced by teenager Raul Vancea.

It was a blow so late in the half, and it could have been worse but for a superb save by Jonathan Macaulay in stoppage time.

The Watford keeper came to the rescue again seven minutes after the restart before Everton’s Omari Benjamin hit the bar.

The breakthrough came just after the hour-mark when Watkiss gathered a corner, controlled the ball well and fired past Pickford.

That looked like being enough for the Hornets to take all three points, but a minute into stoppage time they were denied victory when a corner ran all the way to the back of the six-yard box and Harvey Foster equalised for the Toffees.

And just when Watford thought they had a point to bring back home with them, the home side netted the winner in time added on to the original four minutes of stoppage time.

Jacob Beaumont-Clark was played in on the right side of the box, went past his marker and then steered the ball wide of the advancing Macaulay before netting from a tight angle.

Watford: Macaulay; Mullins (Vancea 43), Watkiss, Ramirez-Espain, Abbott, Almeida, Eames (Garcia-Romero 72), Coyne, Adeyemo (Lawson 82), Massiah-Edwards (Nabizada 82), Adu-Poku. Unused sub: Browne