FA Premier Academy League, South  
 Wast Hills Training centre, Birmingham
    Saturday 26th January 2008, 12am
 
     BIRMINGHAM    V       SPURS   
    (Blue/White)        (All Yellow)                     
       4-4-2               4-4-2
 
        0(0)                1(0)
 
       Dean Lyness 1 Jamie Butler
      Jared Wilson 2 Adam Smith
         Luke Rowe 3 Sam Cox
        Ryan Burge 4 Yaser Kasim
       Jacob  Rowe 5 Takura Mtandari(C)
       Dan Preston 6 Steven Caulker
     James O’Brien 7 Kyle Fraser-Allen   
    Michell McPike 8 Dean Parrett
   Robert Gradwell 9 Alex Olsen
Stephen Milojevic 10 Ryan Mason
        Sean Hunt 11 Jonathan Obika
 
     Luke Hubbins 12 Andros Townsend
        (9)46Mins.
                  13    
     Adam Newbury 14 Yuri Berchiche
        (7)68Mins.
     Jamie Dunphy 15 Sol Asajile
       (8)46Mins. 

Coache:-
       S.Spooner     A.Inglethorpe    

Scorers:-
                     Parrett 50

Booked:-
   Burge 51 (Foul)  

Referee:- S.Martin

It was a sunny morning but with a cold wind blowing down the pitch from left to right. The pitch, which sloped from left to right must have been very wet as the surrounding area was muddy and water-logged. A small crowd of around forty turned out to watch. As I got there just before kick off and without a teamsheet I have had to name players from memory so if there is an error I apologise.

Spurs lined up with Mtandari and Caulker at the back with Smith at right back and Cox on the left. Kasim and Parrett played in centre midfield with Fraser-Allen on the right wing and Obika on the left. Mason played behind Olsen up front. As there were no substitutions I do not know the numbers for our players on the bench.

Spurs defended the right end facing into the wind and kicking up the slope. This meant that goal kicks tended to stall just over the halfway line. Both sides had problems with the wind in the first half and so scoring chances were low but there was plenty of good approach play tempered with good defending which kept the game even between the sides.

McPike had the first chance when he fired well over inside ten minutes. Wilson made two good runs down the right without anyone connecting with his crosses. Spurs went close from a corner that Mtandari got his head to but could only direct it past the far post. Mtandari also fired over following another corner. Olsen showed a good turn of speed to get into the area but finished with a weak effort that Lyness collected easily. Parrett curled in a free kick from the left that Lyness pushed into the path of Mtandari at the far post but recovered quickly to smother his shot. Good work gave Obika an opening but his effort was blocked by the keeper coming quickly off his line. Wilson again got down the right but shot wide before Mason fired over having been set up by good work from Fraser-Allen.

Birmingham made two changes for the second half taking off the ineffectual Gradwell and McPike who had been warned by the ref for a couple of bad fouls. Spurs were much better playing down the slope with the wind behind them than the home side and dominated the second half. Mason fired wide early on and Fraser-Allen had the pace to latch onto a long ball and crossed from the goal line. Olsen collected Preston’s clearance and forced Lyness into a save. The blues' dangerman was Milojevic who made several runs through the middle and forced Butler to save his low drive. The ball was swiftly sent downfield for Parrett to test Lyness. Within a minute Parrett was again put through and this time Lyness could not hold his volley and Parrett put the rebound into the net.

Burge dived in on Smith catching him late with a raised boot was booked by the ref who had had words with him late in the first half. The next Spurs attack resulted in Parrett hitting the far post from outside the area. Five minutes later and Mason thumped the crossbar from a free kick. The Birmingham goal continued to have a charmed life when a Parrett shot was diverted onto the crossbar minutes later. Mason then cleared the bar with his next effort before bringing a save from Lyness when he connected with Fraser-Allen’s cross. Obika fired wide from the left and when Fraser-Allen came in at the far post his goal bound effort was blocked by Wilson diving across in front of him.

Spurs last chance to increase their lead came when Fraser-Allen was brought down just outside the area and Mason hit the free kick high over the bar. Birmingham had hardly troubled the defence during the second half with only a few runs from Milojevic and a couple of good crosses from Hubbins. They came close to getting a goal when in added time a Hubbins cross from the left caused confusion in the Spurs defence and the Blues had three attempts on goal with the final one from Dunphy held by Butler.

This was a good win with Spurs mastering the conditions better than the home side. In the second half we had the pace to get long balls despite the wind and defenders to recover from through balls over the halfway line. The score line flattered the home side as Spurs hit the woodwork three times in the space of four minutes. With both Villa and Leicester winning it looks like it will come down to the games with them for Spurs to close the gap at the top. We play Villa next at the Lodge in two weeks time. Before that the lads are off to Italy to play in a tournament.

Ray

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