Report | Swansea City U18s 1 Watford U18s 1
Ten-man Swansea City Under-18s battled to a draw against Watford at Landore in the Professional Development League.
Thomas Woodward's goal saw the Swans pick up a point against the Hornets to extend their unbeaten run to six games.
The away side had taken the lead through Jonathan Lawson while the Swans had to play the entirety of the second half a man down after Thomas Searle saw red for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Swansea had shown three changes from the Professional Development League Cup win against the Hornets on Tuesday, with Harlan Perry, Jack Cooper and Seb Dabrowski all returning to the side.
However, Watford took the lead within the first five minutes. Lawson won the ball high up the pitch and drove into the box before unleashing a curling strike that flew into the bottom corner to open the scoring.
The Swans almost replied immediately. Sammy Henia-Kamau brought down a long ball, but his effort was straight at Sam Morris in the Watford goal.
However, Swansea did get the equaliser 10 minutes later when a quick counter-attack resulted in Henia-Kamau playing Woodward through on goal, and the forward slotted the ball home.
Watford then had a fantastic chance to retake the lead but Lawson was denied by Margetson, who parried the ball away, with Kristian Shevchenko’s follow-up effort blocked by covering defenders.
Shevchenko continued to look bright in the early stages, and he played in Max Hunt, who forced Margetson into another good save.
The Swans responded and almost took the lead for the first time, only for Morris to get down well to save a close-range effort from Dabrowski.
The hosts were then reduced to 10 men late into the first half, Searle was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity when he brought down Shevchenko just outside the box.
It left Swansea facing an uphill challenge, and the first chance of the second half fell to the Hornets when a Conrad Hunt strike was well saved by Margetson, who made the block with his leg.
The game became scrappy with stoppages throughout the second half, although a chance did fall to Watford’s Alfie King, but he could not keep his header on target from a cross.
Down the other end, Perry sent a free-kick flew just past the post from 20 yards out, while Josh Pescatore's audacious long-range effort drifted just wide as the spoils were shared.
Swansea City Under 18s: Kit Margetson, Harlan Perry, Tom Searle, Jacob Cook, Jack Cooper (captain), Iestyn Jones, Aimar Govea (Josh Pescatore 58’), Yori Griffith, Sammy Henia-Kamau (Caio Ifans 58’), Tom Woodward, Sebastian Dabrowski.
Unused substitutes: Teo Minchev, Ewan Griffiths, Aidan Higgins
Watford Under-18s: Sam Morris, Ollie Stephenson, Conrad Hunt, Jack Taylor (captain), Victor Wachowicz, Alfie King, Kristian Shevchenko (Leo Ramirez-Espain 45’), Josh Riza(Hayden Barrett 86’), Jonathan Lawson, Max Smith (Kash Odiase 45’), Ignachio Romero-Garcia (Amani Bonlin 80’).