LEAD Professional Development Phase coach Danny Heath felt that Southend United's first-year scholars and schoolboys would be better for the experience after losing 2-0 to Watford in their second Under 17 London Cup clash.

Blues were able to sample the atmosphere under the floodlights at the Southchurch Park Arena in their second group stage fixture, and Heath was keen to praise the host club for their role in staging the fixture.

“I’d like to say a big thanks to Southend Manor,” he began.

“It’s good that they’re supporting us and we’re supporting them.

"Hopefully they’ve made a little bit through the bar and there was a good crowd.

"This cup gives the boys good experience ahead of competitions like the FA Youth Cup, so it will hold them in good stead when they do step in as a scholar.”

Heath’s charges were beaten by a goal in each half from their higher-level opponents, but the coach felt that the teenage Shrimpers’ display and the way that they adapted to the challenges posed outweighed the negative of the result.

“I’ve told the boys in the changing room that they shouldn’t let the scoreline be a reflection of the performance and the positives from the game,” he said.

"Watford are a very good side and they have some very good players and one or two play for England.”

“In the first half they caused us a lot of problems with their number 10 drifting into wide areas.

"They played a 4-2-4 and sometimes our wing-backs didn’t know when to jump out and press the wide areas and the sides of our back three were a little bit exposed.”

“We spoke about it at half-time and we were a lot better in the second half.

"The boys put in a great shift, although we didn’t create a lot of opportunities to score.

"Probably the best was the shot from our trialist towards the end that forced their goalkeeper into a good save.”

“Their second goal was probably a bit lucky as it bounced over the top of Luke [Cerullo]’s dive, so there were plenty of positives to take from the performance,” Heath added, before speaking about the lessons the squad had already learned after losing 6-2 away to Reading in their opening match of the competition.

“Maybe the chance in the first few minutes with the rebound, if Smai [Norman] goes with his right foot he gets a tap-in because he was trying to come across his body with his left foot and he was always leaning and off-balance. I felt we did enough to get on the scoresheet.”

“Even in the Reading game they went 3-0 up and they took off four of their players; we got it back to 3-2 and they brought those four back on again.

"These are games against Category Two opposition and we’ve shown we’ve got good players within the system, but maybe we need that little bit of quality to get to the next level.”

“When you’re playing against those sides you get punished for any mistakes; if you give them an inch defensively they’ll take a yard. It’s the same in the attacking third where the final ball or the shot has got to be spot-on, and that’s the difference,” he added.

Although Watford had the better of the possession in the opening period, it was the hosts that enjoyed the greater opportunities.

In the eighth minute Max Fiddes, captaining the side, curled a free-kick around the defensive wall and Norman was close to converting the rebound, with the goalkeeper getting a crucial second touch to push the ball away.

On 19 minutes the Hornets goalkeeper was drawn into action again, brilliantly turning away a stinging strike from Southend’s trialist forward, and that took on greater significance on the half-hour mark when the ball was recycled from the right-hand side of the penalty area and was side-footed into the bottom left-hand corner by a Watford attacker.

Norman made a vital contribution to flick the ball off the toes of a forward a few minutes later before Cerullo made a good low save, although the custodian was fortunate to avoid a larger sanction when he was cautioned for committing a foul on an attacker outside his penalty area just before half-time.

Either side of the interval Blues could have levelled, with Romeo Ebondo nodding an Alfie Bangs free-kick just wide of the left-hand upright before schoolboy Mesach Olabyi turned the ball into the goalkeeper’s gloves with an acrobatic bicycle kick following good work on the left-hand side by Bangs and Piers Hatcliff.

However, Watford also powered a header narrowly over and fired wide on the half-volley before the visitors extended their lead midway through the second half.

This time there was a clinical finish dispatched into the bottom left-hand corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Blues finished the match well with Hatcliff seeing a couple of shots blocked at close quarters before substitute Chinedu Deru volleyed into the side-netting and the trialist drew another good save from the Watford goalkeeper in stoppage time.

But the home side couldn’t find the consolation goal that their performance merited.

Southend United U17s: Cerullo, Bragg, Norman, Terry (Shiou 87),  Ebondo, Bangs (Deru 75), Olabyi (Bangura 82), Macdonald (Harding 87), Trialist, Fiddes (Poxon 87), Hatcliff.

Subs not used: C Brown & A Brown.