Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.

         FA Premier Academy League Group D
           Spurs Lodge, Chigwell, Essex
           19th October 2002, K.o. 11am

            SPURS      v   WEST HAM UTD
        (White/Blue)      (Claret/Blue)
            3-5-2             3-5-2
             0(0)              2(0)

        Nicholas Eyre  1  Darren Behoet
         Joe Watson(C) 2  Sam Wright
         Liam Francis  3  Darren Blewitt
       Kieran McKenna  4  Tommy Lawa
        Andrew Hodges  5  Liam Parrington
          Philip Ifil  6  Chris Cohen
           Iyad Ahmed  7  Mark Noble
          David Hicks  8  Danny Bunce
      Michael Malcolm  9  Tony Stokes
           Owen Price 10  Ian Tucker
      Gavin Toussaint 11  Marce Collington

          Charlie Lee 12  Bobby Singh
           (7) 84Mins     (9) 70Mins
         Michael Eade 13  Matt Reed
       Gareth Jenkins 14  Richard Ketchell
                          (8) 57Mins
            Tom Welch 15  Sosthene Yao
                          (10) 68Mins
          Danny Jones 16  Ishmael Welsh

Scorers - Blewitt 70 (pen0, Cohen 83

The morning started overcast with a chill in the air as the Juniors entertained local rivals West Ham in what is usually a game between skilful lads from clubs that pride themselves on playing entertaining football. There was a good crowd to see this encounter and I was joined by Wyart Lane (who took pictures which should appear on his website soon) and Andy Porter. With the first team and reserves training during the morning we had Calderwood and Kerslake with Teddy and Dean Marney come for a look as well as a couple of the academy players who were not playing today. Another spectator was Ray Clemence who was here for the last U-17 game as well (Eyre is an England U-17 player).

Spurs lined up with Lee, Hodges and Ifil at the back and McKenna and Hicks just behind Price in the middle with Ahmed on the right and Francis on the left in support of Malcolm and Toussaint up front. Kicking off attacking the left-hand goal Spurs found themselves a little out-weighed by a bigger and more physical Hammers side. Eyre was tested early by Bunce and Tucker with Malcolm getting in at the other end. This was a tough game for our new professional as he was up against three defenders who were all taller than him, one of whom, Blewitt, was taking no prisoners (I'd like to see his birth certificate as he would have difficulty in passing for an under 21 player IMO).

This was a game played mainly in the middle with some good passing and approach play from both sides with the final ball so often missing. Both defences closed down quickly with support from midfield and good keeping at the back with Nicky Eyre the busiest. The visitors had the better of the game and more shots as an end product as apart for a short spell in the middle of the half they dominated the game. Most of our attacking play came from Ahmed and Price with good work from Malcolm laying the ball off.

The second half started the same as the first and Eyre had to make stops from Stokes and Collington. Spurs had brought on Jones for the ineffectual Toussaint and he seemed a bit stronger, but the Hammers gradually took control and there was only going to be one winner. They brought on Ketchell, an even taller defender and switched to four at the back and Yao to add pace up front before they finally took the lead from the penalty spot after Collington had been fouled in the box. Blewitt sent Eyre the wrong way.

Despite some good work from Price and Malcolm and a wasted effort from Ahmed we did not look like getting back and this was confirmed when Cohen volleyed in at the far post in the 83rd minute from a right wing cross. Neighbour brought on Lee for Ahmed without success for the final minutes.

We lost to a team that was no better skill-wise than us but had a distinct size advantage and who were more hyped up to get stuck in. The air was turned blue due to the language from the teams usually directed at team-mates for perceived mistakes. The referee didn't help in allowing play to continue after a foul and then blowing up if no advantage resulted, something that happened a lot causing plenty of confusion on both sides. I remember not so long ago when after a match the boys would line-up and shake hands with the other team, now I think that they would kick s**t out of each other the way they play - sorry that's just IMO. Next week the U-19's entertain Ipswich Town, while the U-17's go in the other direction. I will not be there as I will be making one of my rare excursions out of the capital. (Ed: Ray is off to Anfield too!)

Ray

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