A WATFORD development XI drew 0-0 at St. Albans City this evening, largely thanks to some excellent goalkeeping from the home ‘keeper.
Whilst Vital Watford weren’t at the game, we were able send one of our spies, Brad Simmons (@SimmonsB95 on Twitter – get following!), who reported back on the clash at Clarence Park.
– During the first half Whichelow very much played a role similar to what Mingoia did at Wealdstone; linking up play in the center rather than his usual trait of being a winger. In the second half, before being subbed off, he was producing a number of attacks down the wings resulting in crosses – a few of which came close to producing a goal.
– Trialist ‘keeper Graham Stack performed admirably when called upon including a double save towards the end of the game, and had a very vocal presence throughout the game, he managed to keep the youthful defence in line well because of this.
– I found the first half centre back who had the five jersey to be solid and confident as he made more than one important last ditch challenge in the box.
– The tall youngster, Hamilton-Forbes, who played in the second half at Wealdstone, played similarly to how Hogg did in cleaning up the midfield and always being an option to pass to when there were no threatening options.
– During parts of the first half the midfield showed their inexperience by drifting, bunching, and following the ball; Stack was the only player that could be considered a leader and obviously could not do everything from his position, I think the team would have benefited from having an experienced player outfield.
-Especially in the first half Whichelow was quite greedy with shots and displayed a less than encouraging attitude – just as he did at Wealdstone.
– The second half produced more chances including a one on one from (number 11 jersey) but came to nothing because he did not take the shot quick enough, this was a common occurrence as the players seemed scared to shoot.
Watford starting XI: Stack*; Barnum-Bobb, Connolly, Hamilton-Forbes, Johnson (c), Tumwa, Massey, Dillon, Whichelow, O’Nien & English.
N.B: * = denotes trialist
Attendance: 367
