A second half goal from Michael Folivi earned Watford’s Under-18s a 1-1 draw against Crewe Alexandra in Professional Development League 2 South on Saturday.

The young Hornets had fallen behind shortly after the half hour mark but had an immediate opportunity to hit back through Max Ryan.

The central midfielder rounded the home side’s goalkeeper but wasn’t able to find the net as a covering defender cleared.

The Golden Boys did level after the interval, however. Crewe attempted to build from the back but their goalkeeper was caught in possession by Folivi who had the easy task of slotting into an empty net.

Watford felt they should have been awarded a late penalty when Max Makaka was brought down in the area in the final minute but the referee waved away the appeals.

Youth team coach David Horseman told the club website: "It wasn't one of our best performances, but Crewe are a very good young team so it's a pleasing point in the end.

"We had a long journey up in the morning and we started slowly, although we had a good few chances in the first-half without playing particularly well.

"It was much better in the second-half. We went higher up the pitch and it worked a treat, particularly for the goal.

"We'd seen what they were doing with their goal-kicks, playing them out from the back, so when one went back to their keeper Michael closed it down just as he was about to clear it.

"We did the same thing twice against Birmingham, closing their keeper down, but on that occasion they both rolled just the wrong side of the post, so it was quite pleasing for it to pay off this time.

"If anything we looked like winning it in the end, and we certainly got better as the game went on, without being brilliant.

Watford Under-18s: Gartside; Sesay, Rowan, Rogers, Mason; Roe, Ryan (Cook, 60), Makaka; Johnson (Adedeji, 70), Pereira (Eleftheriou, 65), Folivi.