The Huddersfield Town Under-18 side were on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline at Watford this weekend, but the game could have gone either way until the Terriers had to play the last half an hour with a man down.

The scoreline was 3-2 with an hour gone, but with all three substitutions used defender Liam Ridehalgh (pictured) pulled his hamstring, forcing Graham Mitchell's side to battle away with just ten men.

The horrendous traffic that most Town fans travelling to Millwall for Saturday's first-team game had to endure also caused the under-18s problems and kick-off had to be delayed at Watford after our team arrived at 1pm - the pre-arranged kick-off time!

Mitchell's side put this unwanted disruption behind them early on and actually took the lead when the game finally commenced. Irish striker Dave Heagney was brought down by Watford custodian North as early as the tenth minute, with skipper Spencer Harris stepping up to convert the spot-kick at the second attempt after a good initial save.

However the home side equalised through a penalty of their own ten minutes later after Watford's Michael Bryan was brought down; skipper Billy Gibson converting from twelve yards.

Town lost commanding defender Leigh franks soon after with a back problem and fell 3-1 behind after goals in the 24^th and 31^st minute, but gave themselves a fighting chance going into the interval with a second goal in the 35^th minute. Midfielder Lewis Nightingale robbed a Watford player of the ball in midfield before advancing and sliding a clever pass into striker James Spencer, who coolly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper.

It looked like the referee had awarded a third penalty of the half after 39 minutes when Heagney clashed with a defender in the 39^th minute, but instead the young striker was booked for simulation - a decision that shocked everyone at the ground.

Town were on level par with their hosts up until Ridehalgh's injury on the hour mark, but conceded a goal just a minute after going down to ten men - winger Piero Mingoia scoring an impressive curling effort for the home side.

Watford had a late free-kick disallowed by the referee, whereas Nightingale struck the home crossbar with a late 25-yard set-piece, but the game finished 4-2 to Watford.

Under-18 boss Mitchell told htafc.com that he felt his side had a good chance of getting something from the game before the loss of Ridehalgh.

"It took us a little while to get going on Saturday - it probably about half an hour until we got into our stride. By that point we were behind, but I thought we played much better in the last hour of the game.

"Fair play to Watford, who played some good football and took advantage of our plight once Liam had to come off but I thought it could have gone either way up until that point."

Things won't get any easier for Town next weekend when Mitchell's side come up against the reigning FA Youth Cup Champions Manchester City; keep checking htafc.com for the latest Academy information!

Huddersfield Town:

Damian Eastham, Dave Pickering, Liam Ridehalgh, Spencer Harris (c), Leigh Franks (Jack Hunt 20), Lewis Collinson (Chris Atkinson 46), Lewis Nightingale, Luke Williams, Dave Heagney, James Spencer, Stephen Brook (Luke Durham 60)

Unused Substitutes: Danny Barlow, Chris Pert

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