Watford's second string proved too strong for their Boreham Wood opponents in an accomplished performance at Meadow Park .

Trialist Omari Coleman scored a hat-trick to demonstrate just why the Dulwich Hamlet ace is staking a claim for a permanent move to the Hornets, while fellow trialist Adam Howarth and Scott Fitzgerald bagged the other goals, with notable performances from Andy Ferrell and Ben Herd.

Boss Nigel Gibbs fielded a mix of trialists and players with first-team experience. Fitzgerald lined up on the right wing to get some match minutes, and another trialist - ex-Crystal Palace and Brentford player Danny Boxall made an appearance in the centre of defence alongside the imposing figure of Howarth.

Anthony McNamee started as he meant to go on by getting the first cross of the day in from the left wing inside the first minute. Two minutes later, an early warning sign of Coleman's ability was shown when he expertly beat the offside trap before jinking past his defender and crossing for Jason Norville who just failed to reach the inviting ball.

Cameron Mawer, playing at left-back, showed flashes of attacking ability when he dribbled right into the heart of the Wood back line before squaring the ball to Norville, who shot wide from 18 yards.

On 19 minutes Watford had a great chance to take the lead. Norville expertly turned his man from a Mawer throw-in and crossed for Fitzgerald, who elected to pass back across goal instead of shooting and centre back Ryan Moran managed to clear the danger.

Five minutes later the Hornets were to rue their missed opportunity. Marvin Samuel and Stuart Lockhead combined to set up Sammy Winston, whose shot was deflected behind. From the resulting corner, Samuel lost his marker and headed powerfully down into the bottom corner, giving Richard Lee no chance.

Straight from the kick-off Watford poured forward and forced a corner. McNamee's effort was cleared only as far as Ferrell, who fed Coleman as he beat the offside trap and equalised with a powerful shot past Matt Hudson. Watford then had another decent chance eight minutes later when Dominic Blizzard headed a McNamee corner over when unmarked from 12 yards.

On 42 minutes the Hornets went ahead with a well-worked goal. Ferrell found himself on the right wing and whipped in a devilish cross which eluded the entire Wood back line and found the diving head of Coleman, who lost his marker to finish in style from close range.

Watford kept up the pressure in the second half, with trialist Daryl McMahon replacing Boxall and Blizzard moving to the centre of defence.

Six minutes after the break, a Hornets corner was cleared without trouble by Town, but when the ball was won back in midfield, Norville fed the overlapping Herd who crossed superbly from the right wing and Coleman headed past the keeper from six yards for his third of the game.

Three minutes later and Coleman was celebrating what he thought was his fourth but his goal was disallowed by the linesman.

Cameron Mawer then tried to get in on the act on 60 minutes by nutmegging a defender on the edge of the area, but his shot blazed over from the edge of the area.

Jason Norville's last contribution of the game was to connect with another cross from McNamee. The high ball fell perfectly for Norville to hit a left-footed volley straight at the keeper.

With time winding down a dangerous cross from Herd forced another Watford corner. McNamee found Howarth all alone in the centre of the box, and the giant centre back headed home for a deserved goal.

Fitzgerald rounded off a strong performance by scoring the Hornets' final goal. Diagouraga laid a terrific through ball to the former non-league star who outpaced his marker and coolly slotted past Springer into the bottom corner.

Nigel was delighted by the performance of his team, and in particular the eye-catching performance of Coleman.

"You can't help but see Omari up front,'' he said. "He had a hat-trick today and could have had more. His all-round play was excellent and he caught the eye. He played really well in the week and didn't score, so he's got his reward today."

With the pre-season emphasis on match-fitness, accommodating all the players into an XI is not easy, hence Fitzgerald's inclusion.

"Fitzgerald was in on the wing to get him a game, rather than have him sitting on the bench,'' Nigel explained. "We needed to have a look at Omari and Jason Norville needs a game too. We have a lot of strikers at the moment, so it was about getting him 90 minutes under his belt. I'm pleased he got his goal at the end as he deserved it."

With a couple of five-goal performances under their belt, the Hornets' reserve boss sees encouraging signs for the new season.

"Pre-season's all about getting fitness and playing games,'' he said. "Our fitness was good, which is what we're here for, but our general play was excellent as well. There are things that you work on in training that you hope will come out in games. It's not going to happen overnight but we have a good base to work from."

Watford: Lee, Herd, Mawer, Blizzard (c), Howarth, Boxall (McMahon HT), Fitzgerald, Norville (Gilligan 70), Coleman (Diafutua 79), Ferrell (Diagouraga 79), McNamee.

* Our reserve fixture at Bishop's Stortford next week has been put back 24 hours to Wednesday August 4 - 7.45 KO.