Of the 14 players used by Roger Cross, only Steve Potts, Ragnvald Soma and Laurent Courtois possessed first team experience, while Terry Khan, James Allen and Freddy Eastwood were making their first starts at reserve team level.
Watford themselves fielded a fairly inexperienced line-up, although veteran defenders Ramon Vega and Nigel Gibbs were backed up by former Spurs goalkeeper Espen Baardsen, and in the end it was the two defences that played the most influential part in this match.
In an open and at times scrappy affair, both sides had chances to secure victory but the young strikers on show were often denied by the solid defending at each end.
The visitors came closest to opening the scoring after just 16 minutes when, on a counter-attack, winger Elliott Godfrey crashed a shot against the bar and saw the ball rebound away to safety.
The Hammers also had chances of their own early on. Livewire striker Omer Riza saw a dangerous effort on the turn tipped round by Baardsen, while young Allen shot just wide when clean through on the right.
The second half was a similar story to the first, as the bouncy surface prevented any real flowing football from being played and almost embarrassed young Hammers keeper David Forde, who saw a long clearance from Baardsen bounce over him as he rushed out to clear, only for Potts to deny the Watford number one his moment of glory.
Shaun Byrne had a great chance to snatch victory with 10 minutes left when he raced on to Riza's cut-back from the byline, but the Irish under-21 international lost his footing at the vital moment and missed his kick.
Substitute defender Elliott Ward made a fantastic last-ditch block to deny Watford striker Norville in the final moments but a draw was a fair result and the clean sheet much appreciated by Roger Cross.
Team: Forde, Khan (Ward 62), Potts, Iriekpen, Soma, Allen, Byrne, Ferdinand (G.Carrick 62), Courtois, Eastwood (Mehmet 62), Riza. Subs unused: Jackson, Lumsden.