FA Premier Academy League - South
 Spurs Lodge, Luxborough Lane, Chigwell, Essex
       10th December 2005, ko 12.04pm


     SPURS          V      CARDIFF CITY
  (White/Blue)             (Blue/Blue)
     4-5-1                    4-5-1

     3(1)                     2(0)

       David Button 1 Scott Allinson
        Chris Riley 2 Chris Gunter
         Joe Martin 3 Matt Smith
     Jake Livermore 4 Michael Corcoran
     Leigh Mills(C) 5 Lloyd Evans
 Archibald-Henville 6 Mika Chunounsee
        Jamie Davis 7 Carl Jones
       Stuart Lewis 8 Greg Coombes
        Terry Dixon 9 Scott McCoubrey
    Jaques Maghoma 10 Jamal Easter
     Claude Seanla 11 Chris McDonald

      Cian Hughton 12 Darcy Blake
      (9)74
      James Dalton 13 Mark Jones
        Alex Smith 14 James Simpson
                      (7)56
    Richard Heller 15 Shaun Dawe
      (7)90           (6)84
     Matthew Wells 16 Ian Robinson
                   17 Mark James
                      (9)56

  Scorers:-
    Mills 35          Easter 74 Pen.
    Dixon 51           o.g.  78
    Seanla 84

  Booked:-
    Livermore 37 - Kicked ball away            
    Coombes 58 - Pulled back player
    Allinson 70 - Kicked ball away
    Coombes 75 - Kicked ball away - Red card

  Ref. C. Turner
  Asst. D. Cunningham, D. Cross

On a chilly morning with a warm low sun burning off the mist which gave a soft top to a hard pitch, a small crowd turned up to see the the young Spurs. I was joined by listee Paul Smith and Andy Porter.

Spurs lined up with the usual back line of Mills and (Troy) Archibald-Henville in the centre with Riley on the right and Martin on the left in front of Button. Lewis and Maghoma were joined by Livermore in the centre of midfield (Matthew Wells was supposed to start but pulled up in the warm up and was replaced by Jake). Davis was outside of them on the right and Seanla on the left supporting Dixon up front.

Spurs attacked the South goal in the first half and soon put the Bluebirds under pressure. The visitors played a high line with only one up which meant that it was a crowded midfield. Our passing was a lot more precise with more balls to feet at pace than the last game that I saw. Dixon and Lewis went close and Livermore hit the bar as the home side pushed for a goal. Maghoma weaved across the pitch from left to right before finally losing the ball to the massed blue shirts. Spurs made the breakthrough when Mills headed in from a freekick. Just after that Livermore picked up a yellow card for kicking the ball away. The two full backs made good runs down the flanks and were well supported by Davis and Seanla who swapped places for most of the half.

The second half started much as the first with the home side pressurising the visitors and Mills just failed to connect with a Martin freekick. We increased the lead when Maghoma ran onto a long diagonal ball from Troy Archibald-Henville, and went to the line before cutting back and crossing low for Dixon to score at the far post from inches.

The Cardiff coach made two changes to his side and they began to play more positively and started to create chances. The ref booked Coombes for pulling back a player which was so quick that I did not identify the player until later. The visitors were given a lifeline when Archibald-Henville was adjudged to have pushed someone in the box. As Mills cleared the ball most of us failed to see it. Easter beat Button low to his right and started a mini revival as the home defence was pushed back. It did not stop Spurs from threatening the visitors goal and Allison was booked for kicking the ball away.

With Spurs on the back foot Cardiff shot themselves in the foot by having a player sent off. Coombes stupidly kicked the ball away in the corner and was promptly shown a yellow card followed by a red. As with most teams reduced to 10 men they went and scored. The equaliser came from a corner when James header hit the bar and Button failed to hold the rebound and was credited with the goal from the goal-line melee that followed.

The visitors pushed forward looking for a winner which led to Button making a great save, (from Easter)pushing a rising angled drive away to safety. Hughton had come on for Dixon and played on the left with Seanla moving up front. Maghoma again got away down the left and from his centre Seanla fired low to the right of the keeper. Heller came on for the final minutes of added time and worked the left flank with Hughton moving to the right.

The victory moved Spurs up to second ahead of Coventry and Leicester on goals scored and goal difference respectively, behind Villa. They have an FA Youth cup game at Blackburn on the 19th before packing up for the Christmas break. Before that, the Reserves will be playing Chelsea at Stevenage on the 14th and then travel to Watford on the 19th. As this is the same day as the Youth cup I don't expect any academy players to be included.

Ray

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