Report | Swansea City U18s 2 Watford U18s 0

A fantastic second-half performance saw Swansea City Under-18s defeat 10-man Watford to reach the final of the Professional Development League Cup.

Thomas Woodward and Jacob Cook were on the scoresheet for the hosts at Landore as they progressed to the showpiece for the first time.

The win made it five victories in a row for the development side, and it was thoroughly deserved following a dominant showing after the break.

The Swans had seen Kit Margetson and captain Jack Fanning return from injury, but it had been the visitors who settled quickest.

Indeed, the Hornets wasted several chances to open the scoring, with Zavier Massiah-Edwards seeing a shot cleared away by Iestyn Jones before Jonathan Lawson turned an effort wide from a Michael Adu-Poku cross.

The Swans responded, Sammy Henia-Kamau worked room to get a shot away, but it was straight into the gloves of Gabriel Ortelli.

Swansea’s first sight of goal fell to Henia-Kamau who did well to turn his man and get his shot away, but his effort was straight at Gabriel Ortelli.

Another chance fell to Lawson five minutes later, but the Watford man once again put his shot from close range wide of the mark.  

The Hornets continued their strong start to the game, with the next opportunity falling to Amin Nabizada, who took down a fantastic ball from Alfie King but saw his deflected strike roll out for a corner.

Massiah-Edwards was the next to have an effort at goal when he cut inside on his right foot and released a curling shot that flew over the bar.

But Swansea began to grow into the game, with Ortelli getting down well to deny Henia-Kamau from Cameron Llewellyn’s excellent delivery.

Llewellyn was soon at it again, with Aimar Govea unable to turn in his low cross to the far post.

The game remained goalless at the break, but the chances kept coming with Margetson making a fine save to deny Adu-Poku.

But it was the Swans who took the lead 10 minutes into the second half after a glorious solo run from Yori Griffith saw the midfielder drive into the box, where he squared the ball for Woodward to slot the ball past Ortelli.

The Swans doubled their lead five minutes later when Cook won the ball high up the pitch and unleashed a powerful driven effort into the bottom corner, leaving Ortelli with no chance to react.

Watford’s task then got even tougher when they were reduced to 10 men after Amar Sanghraijka was dismissed following a late challenge on Woodward.

The Swans had a great chance to add a third when Caio Ifans played a long ball to find Woodward in space, but his shot was held by Ortelli.

However, it did not matter in the final analysis as the Swans advanced to the final

Swansea City Under-18s: Kit Margetson, Tom Searle, Caio Ifans (Jack Cooper 85), Jacob Cook, Iestyn Jones, Jack Fanning (captain), Cameron Llewellyn, Yori Griffith, Sammy Henia-Kamau (Harlan Perry 70), Tom Woodward (Ramon Rees-Siso 85), Aimar Govea (Josh Pescatore 92).

Unused substitutes: Ewan Griffiths.

Watford Under-18s: Gabriel Ortelli, Charlie Bolding, Alfie King (Josh Sala 79), Leo Ramirez-Espain, Josh Mullins (captain), Victor Wachowicz, Michael Adu-Poku (Kristian Shevchenko 62), Prince Sikiru (Amar Sanghrajka 65), Jonathan Lawson, Amin Nabizada (Ollie Stephenson 79), Zavier Massiah-Edwards.

Unused substitutes: Sam Morris.