Watford Under-23s picked up victory at the eighth attempt with a 2-0 win at Barnsley this afternoon.

Harry Kewell's young side might have thought it was Groundhog Day in recent weeks with just a solitary win in the Professional Development League since November.

And they had to do it the hard way in the North East, with Charlie Bannister saving a penalty before Ogo Obi and Max Ryan struck for the visitors.

David Sesay was adjudged to have handled in the area early in the second half, giving Barnsley a chance to open the scoring, but Bannister kept out Louis Wardle's spot kick.

The game soon endured a period of deja vu as Dion Pereira struck the post when Sesay was felled inside the box at the other end.

But the breakthrough would finally materialise, when Obi struck from 12 yards.

And with 10 minutes to go, they doubled their lead. A corner was played in to the near post and Ryan was there to head home and give Watford a much-needed - and morale-boosting - three points.