Winning goalscorer Zavier Massiah-Edwards spoke for the rest of his Under-18 teammates when he said he had never experienced noise and atmosphere like he did at Vicarage Road as Watford beat Southampton 2-1 in the FA Youth Cup.
The 18-year-old forward made his first-team debut on the final day of last season, getting on in the last minute of the game at Middlesbrough.
And although he has played at Vicarage Road in Under-21 games, what he and the Under-18s experienced when playing in front of more than 2,000 fans against both Southampton and Tottenham was on a different level.
“It was unbelievable, I’ve never witnessed that myself before. It definitely helped us,” he said.
“It’s an unreal feeling to be honest. As a team and as individuals we work so hard, week in, week out. It’s what we deserve.
“It was definitely the most challenging game that we’ve had so far, and we dealt with it very well.
“We can take confidence. Confidence that we can beat the Category 1 teams: you would think they were better than us, but no.”
Massiah-Edwards claimed a goal in the 4-2 over Spurs that also hit a defender, but there was no doubt about his winner against the Saints.
“It’s definitely mine this time!” he laughed.
Bevans proud of what the Academy is doing
Watford 2 Southampton 1 - match report
“I knew I was going to get a goal tonight, I said before. And when it came, I took it.”
Massiah-Edwards’ fellow goalscorer Nickson Okosun said the win over Tottenham in the fifth round gave the group the belief they could beat another Premier League side.
“We all had confidence after beating Spurs that we could go out and put in a good performance again, and I think we’ve done that,” said the Irish striker.
“It’s an indescribable feeling. To actually come out and deliver, we’re just so happy.
"We feel like we’re physically and technically as good as any team, it doesn’t really matter.
“I feel like we upped it, the physicality, we’re not worried about that. We train as hard as any team, we come as ready as any team as well.”
Okosun also acknowledged the difference it made to have so many supporters at the game.
“The fans were top and giving us energy the whole game. We felt that,” he said.
“I love playing in big games and I love scoring big goals.
“Ever since I’ve come here Bevs has put faith in me and put confidence in me that I’m going to score first, and that confidence flows through me when I’m playing. Going out and getting goals, that’s just what I want to do.”
Midfielder Amar Sanghrajka summed up the feelings of the players who had been in Watford’s Academy for a long time.
“I’ve been here since I was 11. Every time I get to play here, it’s an honour,” he said.
“When the fans are there shouting ‘yellow army’ and all that stuff, it gives you the extra mile and the extra boost.
“The fans were like the 12th man, they gave us that extra bit of hope today.
“I’m absolutely buzzing. We’re a really strong group, we’ve put in the work and I’m really, really happy with how we’ve played today. We did ourselves really, really proud.
“Physically and mentally today I wanted to give everything so yeah, I’m really happy.”
Sanghrajka said the team were not fearful of any opponents they might face.
“We’ve got tremendous character. We’re not afraid to play anyone and we’re hungry to win. We want to go all the way,” he stressed.
“Every time we get to play it’s a great opportunity to show our talents and our abilities as a group.
“We’re always ready to play anyone. We do the work off the pitch so we can perform on the pitch.”
