Early second-half goals from Shaq Forde and Jack Grieves inspired Watford’s Under-23s to a deserved 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic at Vicarage Road.

Having controlled large parts of the Premier League Professional Development League encounter the hosts could easily have gone into the break in front, with Tiago Cukur and Adrian Blake among the most potent threats.

But the Golden Boys - under the tutelage of Graham Stack and Tom Hart with Omer Riza away on international duty - were more clinical in the second period, with the two strikes paving the way for an overall comfortable afternoon.

The young Hornets found themselves under pressure within the game’s opening moments, with away skipper Harry McHugh lashing a fierce free-kick against the crossbar, before Charlie Hughes saw his follow-up blocked away from goal.

It didn’t take long for the boys in yellow to find their feet though, with Ryan Andrews making good ground down the right to set up chances for Blake and Jack Burchell, but Wigan weathered the storm to keep the clash goalless.

Blake was at the centre of another attack as the Golden Boys looked to capitalise on their good work early on, but back at the other end the Latics delved deep into home territory before Tom Costello fizzed an effort off target.

Forward Cukur went close to opening the scoring on the 20-minute mark after dispossessing Hughes and rounding a defender on the edge of the area, but away stopper Sam Tickle stood firm to collect his tame shot.

The lively Blake continued to threaten down the left and shot narrowly off target once again, but after both teams enjoyed spells of possession home goalkeeper Vincent Angelini had to be alert to smartly deny Youseff Chentouf on the stroke of half-time.

Watford raced out of the blocks at the start of the second period and edged their noses in front within 10 minutes of the restart, Forde rifling home across goal after clever link-up play between James Morris and Cukur.

With the momentum in their favour the Hornets duly doubled their lead two minutes later, with Grieves prodding in from close range after an initial effort was palmed away by Tickle.

Angelini did well to prevent Wigan working their way back into the game with a couple of strong stops as the game wore on, but late substitutes Kyreece Lisbie and Tobi Adeyemo maintained the home side’s attacking strength and Watford ultimately held on for a first win and clean sheet since January.

Following the full-time whistle Stack lauded his players for continuing to fight for the game’s opener despite first-half frustration in front of goal, while he highlighted the team’s blend of youth and experience with a number of individuals still away on international duty.

“I thought the lads were excellent,” he said. “We’ve been missing a few of the lads in the build-up, but we gave them a gameplan yesterday and they performed brilliantly.

“With and without the ball I thought they did really well, and we could’ve been two or three goals in front by the break. We didn’t take our chances early on but that changed later in the game, and Shaq and Jack were both ruthless in front of goal.

“You can often get frustrated when you’re missing chances, so it was brilliant to see them remain focused and keep plugging away. We always felt we’d create more if we kept going, and it was good to see two Under-18s lads get on the scoresheet.

“I think the academy is in a really good place at the moment, and today was a good example of that. We’ve got some really good young players coming through with the likes of Ryan Andrews, Grievesey [Jack Grieves] and Vincent [Angelini] who all contributed today, as well as some of the more experienced heads such as George Langston and Tiago [Cukur] who were similarly impressive. All in all it was a great day.”

Having joined forces with Hart in Riza’s absence, Stack discussed the strong relationship between the different age groups within the Hornets’ academy, while looking ahead to what he hopes will be a fruitful end to the current campaign for the Under-23s.

He added: “Tom’s someone I’ve worked with a lot and we’ve got a good understanding of what we’re both trying to get out of the game, which I thought came across well today.

“We’ve always tried to have an identity in the academy, and to make sure any transition in the coaching is seamless. I think we’ve all got lots of the same ideas, we’ve just got different twists in terms of how we deliver it and how we get our information across.

“Omer and Richard [Shaw] will come back in now and it’ll be more of the same for the five games left of the season. I think some more young players will get some minutes, and we’ll just look to finish off as strongly as possible.”