Report & Reaction: Watford 4-1 Crewe Alexandra

Watford Under-18s booked their place in the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup with a 4-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra at Kings Langley.

Nickson Okosun’s first-half effort was cancelled out by Stanley Dancey midway through the second half, before a brace from Amin Nabizada and an excellent long-range finish by Kash Odiase secured safe passage for the Young Hornets.

They now face a wait until Monday night (January 20) to see whether they will play host to Tottenham Hotspur or Grimsby Town in round five.

Under-18s Lead Coach Matt Bevans expressed his delight at his side’s progression in the competition, although he admitted there was room for improvement in how they started the second half.

“I thought in the first half we were excellent,” he told watfordfc.com. “Some of the football we played was the best we have played all year.

“But we were too open in transition at times.

“I will have to look back at it but I thought that we were loose on the ball [at the start of the second half], and a bit lethargic.

“Whether the boys got too comfortable I don’t know, but it is a common theme if I am honest with you.

“We do really well first half, then we take our foot off the gas second, but I am really proud of the boys for digging in, and being robust.

“They did all the things we asked for, and what we spoke about before, and it shows. We scored three great goals after that.

“That is just the players we have. We have got some real talented individuals here, and I am happy everyone got to see it.”

Watford were on top for much of the first half, but only had Okosun’s confident finish to show for their dominance at the break.

Zavier Massiah-Edwards had two shots saved in quick succession by Mikolaj Lenarcik in the opening exchanges, before Amar Sanghrajka drilled a sighter wide.

The midfielder was closer with his next effort, forcing Lenarcik into a low save from 20-yards out, with the keeper sprung into action again immediately afterwards as Okosun took down the rebound and fired an effort at goal.

The Irishman did find the back of the net with his next opportunity, running onto a defence-splitting pass from Leo Ramirez-Espain before finishing into the far corner.

Quickly after kick-off Sam Morris maintained the goal advantage by keeping out Will Perry’s effort after the forward was played through one-on-one, whilst Massiah-Edwards and Okosun sent two efforts wide before the interval.

After the break, Crewe looked a changed side, and deservedly equalised when captain Dancey smashed home a loose ball after Morris kept out Xavier Smith’s initial header.

However, the Young Hornets would not be without the lead for long thanks to a little bit of magic from Nabizada. 

Picking up the ball on the left of the box, he stopped it dead before driving past several Crewe players and slotting past the keeper, akin to Gerard Deloufeu’s goal against Huddersfield Town at The Vic.

But the forward was not done there. With five minutes left on the clock, a cross was drilled to Nabizada in the box and he slammed the ball into the back of the net to complete his brace.

Unfortunately for Nabizada, but fortunately for everyone else, the best goal of the game came pretty much immediately after.

Josh Riza fed the ball to Odiase with his back to the goal, before the striker turned and took aim from long range, sending the ball on a postage stamp to the top-right corner for Watford’s fourth.

A resilient showing in the final 15, coupled with three stunning strikes, means it will be Spurs or the Mariners at home in the next round.

On his message ahead of round five, Bevans added: “It will be the same.

“We treat every game similar. There may be different tactics, different players, but we will play anyone, and we are happy to play anyone.

“We are just happy to be in the next round if I am honest with you.”

Watford: Morris (GK), Stephenson, Vancea (Smith 88), Ramirez-Espain, Georgiou (C), Moulton, Odiase (Notley 88), Sanghrajka (Akinyimika 72), Okosun (Riza 57), Nabizada, Massiah-Edwards.

Unused subs: Braverman (GK), Smith-Daley, Sala.