Young Hornets star Tobi Adeyemo was disappointed not to get the victory against Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup at Vicarage Road, but will use his impressive performance as a platform to continue his development.
The forward played a key role in getting his side back into the fourth-round tie after Watford had gone two goals down, capitalising on an error from the Chelsea goalkeeper to bring the difference to just one goal before half-time, with Adrian Blake’s strike forcing the game to go to extra time where Chelsea found a late winner.
Adeyemo was proud of his team’s efforts and was pleased to etch his name onto the scoresheet.
“First and foremost, I want to thank God, I want to thank my family, I want to thank the staff and I want to thank all the people that came down to support us,” Adeyemo said.
“It was a lovely game. The [Watford] players gave it their all, but it was just unfortunate we didn’t get the result.
“It was very hard at the start to concede two early goals, but we dug deep, and I got my goal which I’m delighted with.
“[Lead Coach] Tom Hart told me that I could get the boys going, so I made sure that all the boys were going. I had belief in myself, I had belief in the team that we could really make this happen.”
With the game lasting 120 minutes, Adeyemo knew that alongside his teammates, they would have to maintain their high work rate throughout the game, especially against the Blues.
The 16-year-old will certainly take positives from the encounter as he looks to continue to further his growth as a young footballer.
“The boys dug very deep,” he responded. “From the start, we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game and we knew we were going to have to work hard and stick together.
“Because of the game today I’m going to make sure that I keep this standard and take it into the next game and the next game after that, and hopefully see where it goes.
“I really enjoy playing with the lads, Adian [Manning], Shaq [Forde], Adrian [Blake] – it was a lovely experience for me. Under the lights at Vicarage Road - you couldn’t ask for anything more.”
