Premier Academy League, South
Charlton Athletic Academy, Sparrow Lane, Eltham 
       Saturday 13th September 2008, 11am

       CHARLTON      v       SPURS 

      (Red/White)          (White/Blue)
        4-3-3                4-3-3

         0(0)                 0(0)

    Callum Christie  1 Jamie Butler
           Sam Long  2 Adam Smith
         Jack Clark  3 Nathan Byrne
   Alex Stavrinou(C) 4 Yaser Kasim
    Taylor Sinfield  5 Calum Butcher
     Carl Jenkinson  6 Steven Caulker(C)
         Tamer Tuna  7 Andros Townsend
     Freddie Warren  8 Jon Bostock
        Ben Godfrey  9 Ryan Mason
    Steven 
    Lozano-Calderon 10 Dean Parrett
     Jordan Hibbert 11 Jonathan Obika

     Mikkel Jensen  12 James Dalton
         (2)91Mins.
                    13 Coskun Ekim
                       (8)61Mins
       Sean McGinty 14 Sol Asajile
                       (7)90Mins.
      Lewis Perkins 15 Ajet Shehu
          Harry Lee 16 Anthony Jack
         (7)72Mins.
      Callum O’Shea 17

Booked:-
   Godfrey 36(Foul)
   Warren  41(Late)
Lozano-Calderon 66(Holding)   

Coaches:-
       D. Matthews     A. Inglethorpe

Ref:- C. Berry
Assistants:- A. Ajibola, P. Gill

It was an overcast morning for our trip to South London where a good crowd gathered for this inter-group match. Spurs lined up with Caulker and Butcher at the back in front of Butler with Smith on the right and Byrne on the left. Kasim anchored the midfield with Parrett on the right and Bostock on the left. Mason started up front with Townsend on the right and Obika on the left.

Spurs defended the East end and quickly opened up the home defence with Obika getting behind and forcing Christie to save. Obika got down the left again and cut the ball back but Mason could not get a shot in. Tuna put the ball over at the far post after Charlton had broken down the left.

Charlton closed down quickly in the midfield with some rough tackles and it was no surprise they conceded a free kick just outside the area which Mason hit over. Godfrey headed a free kick over and Tuna also lifted an effort over. Christie saved twice from Mason before the ref finally showed a card to a Charlton player. Godfrey had lunged in on Byrne with both feet which the ref decided only warranted a yellow.

Spurs were playing mainly one-touch football which due to the quick closing down was not as accurate as we have seen before and restricted the chances on goal. Obika had an effort saved and Mason put another one over as openings became fewer. Warren was shown a yellow for a tackle from behind that was late. Again the ref had allowed him a lot of lee-way before warning him and finally producing the card. Butler was called into action again to save from Tuna.

Charlton started the second half brightly with their best player Lozano-Calderon getting through but his effort wassaved by Butler. Lozano-Calderon then got through again and set up Godfrey, who fired wide. Townsend got behind the defence but failed to beat the keeper. Godfrey had a shot saved as the Valiants kept up the pressure.

Ekim came on for Bostock and moved into the centre of midfield with Parrett moving over to the left. Kasim had a drive saved as Spurs began to use the pace of Obika and Townsend to get behind the home defenders. Townsend got through but was pulled back by Lozano-Calderon who received a booking. Mason had a shot saved and Townsend hit the post as he attacked the far post from a right wing cross. With time running out Asajile came on for Townsend on the left. Butcher saw his effort blocked, when the home side failed to clear a corner. In added time Stavrinou drove wide and Hibbert saw his cross land on the crossbar.

This was what might have been described as a blood and thunder game with both sides competing in a hard-fought game. Spurs matched the home side with three players up but still played most of the game in the middle of the park. Spurs played the better football but Charlton put in the most effort which cancelled out that advantage. The sharpness of the passing was affected by the lack of room given by the home side and with the ref trying to keep the game moving a lot of challenges went un-punished. It was a fair result at the end of the day. This was the first game for Bostock and he was a little disappointing I thought, and he did not look happy after he was replaced. Next week he may have the chance to play against Crystal Palace at Spurs Lodge.

Ray

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