Watford Under-18s suffered their first pre-season defeat after going down 1-0 against Kings Langley last night.

The young Hornets created several chances throughout the game but were punished for their profligacy in front of goal with seven minutes of the contest remaining.

Golden Boys' Treon Johnson conceded a penalty and Jack Johnson confidently converted from 12 yards to clinch victory for South League Division One Central side Kings.

Hornets lead development coach David Horseman was disappointed with his players’ performance but believes they will be stronger for the experience of competing against a senior side.

“It (how the Hornets played) was completely different to how we’ve trained and played in the last couple of weeks, but credit to the opposition because they played very well,” he told Watford’s website.

“It was a good experience for my boys and they can take a lot from it. They were playing against full-grown men and we will have learnt more from that than from the 7-2 win over Stevenage at the weekend.

“The most important thing is that we’re building towards that first game of the season, and more importantly, development throughout the course of the year.”

Watford Under-18s: Gartside; Trialist, Young, Johnson, Martin; Johnson, Makaka, Cook, Trialist; Folivi, Mensah