Premier U-18 League, South 2019-20
      Hotspur Way, Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield
           24th August 2019, 11.30am 

           SPURS      v     NORWICH CITY
        (White/Blue)       (Yellow/Green)
          4-1-4-1             4-2-3-1

            4(3)                 0(0)

    Joshua Oluwayemi  1  Joe Rose
        Kallum Cesay  2  Eddie Jackson
        Dermi Lusala  3  Arash Ahmadi
       Michael Craig  4  Andrew Omobamidele
       Matthew Craig  5  Jonathan Tomkinson
        Luis Binks(C) 6  Nelson Khumbeni
         Chay Cooper  7  Tony Springett
          Max Robson  8  Zac Dronfield(C)
        Enock Asante  9  Tyrese Omotoye
     Rafferty Pedder 10  Tom Dickson-Peters
  Tarrelle Whittaker 11  Josh Martin

      Romaine Mundle 12  Abu Kamara
          (10)69Mins     (9)85Mins
   Kacper Kurylowicz 13  Sam Blair
    Eddie Carrington 14  Anthonius Berkeley
           (8)76Mins     (6)61Mins
       Dane Scarlett 15  Zak Brown
           (9)61Mins
                     16  Josh Giurgi
                         (7)68Mins

Scorers:-
      Robson 2
      Whittaker 5
      Pedder 39
      Cooper 89 

Coach:-
         Matt Taylor     Paul Williams

Ref:– Ivan Gelov

It was a hot sunny morning for the visit of Norwich City to Hotspur Way for the U-18s' third game of the season. Spurs lost both their opening games and were looking to get off the mark. Last season Spurs' Academy side went through the season with only two defeats during which Norwich suffered a 7-0 loss at Hotspur Way.

It was a busy day at the training centre with U-16 and U-17 games as well the U-18s so this affected the players available to play. Oluwayemi was in goal behind Matthew Craig and captain Binks with Cesay at right back and Lusala on the left. Michael Craig anchored the midfield with Pedder and Robson ahead of him. They were flanked by Cooper on the right and Whittaker on the left in support of Asante up front. Unsurprisingly it was a short bench.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half but spent most of the time in the visitors' half. Spurs opened the scoring in the second minute following a free kick. Michael Craig had an effort blocked in the area that fell nicely for Robson to fire in at the far post.

The lead was doubled when Whittaker met a corner at the near post to turn the ball inside the far post. Asante was played through to sidestep Rose but his effort was cleared off the line. The high tempo passing game of Spurs continued to cause the visitors problems with Whittaker drawing a save. Asante was played through by Pedder only to have his effort blocked for a corner. From the corner Pedder had a shot saved.

The "Canaries" broke out and Omotoye drew a save from Oluwayemi. Whittaker hit a free kick wide before Spurs increased their lead. Cesay made a tackle on the halfway line which saw the ball picked up by Pedder who attacked through the left channel for a two on one with Rose curling the ball inside the near post. Before the break Pedder played in Robson to fire over.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Spurs continue to dominate. Asante had a couple of chances that he hit over the bar while Whittaker headed against the bar at the far post. Spurs' first change saw Scarlett replace Asante up front and he drew a save soon after coming on. Spurs' second change saw Pedder replaced by Mundle.

Scarlett had a header saved from a free kick before Dickson-Peters fired wide. Robson had a knock and was replaced by Carrington who went to the right flank with Cooper coming inside. That allowed Cooper to test the keeper before Binks headed wide following a corner. Oluwayemi had to make two saves in quick sucession from Dronfield and Giurgi before Scarlett fired wide at the other end. Cooper - from his central position - sent Carrington down the right and then hit a the pull-back from outside the area for Spurs' fourth. The last chance fell to Dickson-Peters who fired wide.

This was the style of play that we were used to last season with quick passing through the opposition defence. The passing was better than in the opening games aided by the fact City did not press like the other teams. Matthew Craig, like his brother, was a midfielder last season but has been used in defence this and has adapted to the role well. Next week Spurs travel to Wales to play Swansea who drew 0-0 with Villa today.

Ray

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