Premier Academy League South
      Spurs Lodge, Chigwell, Essex
      Saturday 12th April 2008, 12am
 
      SPURS        v     IPSWICH TOWN
   (All White)           (Blue/White)
      4-4-2                4-4-2
       3(2)                 0(0)
 
     Oscar Jansson 1 Lewis Rhodes
        Adam Smith 2 Joe Clemo
   Daniel Hutchins 3 Kurt Robinson
    Yaser Kasim(C) 4 Matt Daniels
   Takura Mtandari 5 Paul Watson
     Calum Butcher 6 Tom Eastman
 Kyle Fraser-Allen 7 Edward Upson
       Danny Rose  8 Jai Reason(C)
   Jonathan Obika  9 Jack Ainsley
       Ryan Mason 10 Paul Murphy
     David Hutton 11 Reggie Lambe
 
       Alex Olsen 12 Billy Clark
       (9)59Mins     (4)
     James Dalton 13       
          Sam Cox 14 Sebastian Dunbar
                     (11)64Mins.
      Sol Asajile 15 
      (11)80Mins 
       Mark Clare 16       
       (3)80Mins.

Coaches:-
     A.Inglethorpe    R.Hall

Scorers:-
     Mason 10, 16               
     Obika 55 

Booked:-
Rose 52(Dangerous play)  Lambe 64(Foul)
Hutchins 69(Push)        Watson 70(Trip)
Rose 72(Raised hand) 
Mason 72(Raised hand)
 
Sent off:-
Rose – 2 yellow cards    Murphy 72
                        (Dangerous play)

Referee:-  M.Fisher

Spurs' last home game of the season was played in windy conditions with showers in front of a small crowd of onlookers. With only pride at stake both teams put in a good performance which had a surprise ending.

Spurs lined up with Butcher and Mtandari at the back with Smith at right back and Hutchins on the left. Kasim and Rose played in the centre of midfield with Fraser-Allen on the right wing and Hutton on the left. Mason played in the hole behind Obika in attack.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half as both sides looked to open the scoring. Hutton put a free kick over the bar in the opening minutes with Ainsley firing wide at the other after getting in behind Hutchins. Eastman drew a save from Jansson before Mason run from deep to drive in a shot that Rhodes pushed away for a corner. Mtandari met Hutchins corner kick but it was cleared off the line with the keeper beaten.

Lambe received the ball on the far post unmarked but Jansson saved comfortably. A cross-field ball from Faser-Allen found Mason clear on the left and he run into the area and scored with a low drive across the keeper. The home side began to exert pressure on the visitors taking control of the midfield with good hard tackling and one touch passing. Kasim was switching the play with crossfield balls and the full backs supported the wide players.

After stringing together around twenty one touch passes, which involved all the forward players, the move ended with Mason being played in to score his second goal. With Hutchins out of position, Upson found space on the right to test Jansson in goal. With so much control Butcher took the ball out of defence and fired over the bar before Obika had an effort saved. Spurs eased off a little which gave Aisnley space to fire in a shot that Jansson held easily. Upson fired wide on the half hour and drew a save from the keeper near the end of the half.

Spurs started the second half strongly-too strongly by Rose who dived in on Robinson and received the first yellow card of the match. Rose made amends with a break through the middle before releasing Obika to take on Rhodes. Jonathan went past the keeper to put the ball into the empty net.

After Hutton fired over Inglethorpe sent on Olsen in place of Obika. The Ipswich coach coach replaced Lambe after he was booked for a foul on Hutchins which was a sign of the frustration the "Tractor Boys" had showed throughout the game. Hutchins himself was booked shortly after as he needlessly shoved an Ipswich player who was going nowhere. From the free kick Watson tripped Rose as he tried to break away and was also booked. This was the prelude to the low point of the game:-

When a Spurs attack broke down, Rose went to ground stopping Ipswich from countering. Murphy came in from the wing and dived in with his feet off the ground. Rose reacted by pushing his hand into his face and Mason swung his hand at him as well as all the players rushed in to remonstrate or pull others away. After the ref had restored order he consulted his assistants and issued a red card to Murphy and yellows to Mason and Rose which saw both sides reduced to ten men. I think that Kasim was lucky not to be carded as well as he had to be restrained.

Once the game restarted, Spurs had more determination than Ipswich in playing on and dominated the remaining time. Mason saw his free kick saved by Rhodes. After Inglethorpe made two changes with the game won Mason had another free kick saved on the line. Olsen picked up the ball and forced Rhodes into another save. Olsen had the last chance which he put over before the ref blew up without adding anymore time for stoppages.

It was another good performance by Inglethorpe’s side as they showed the movement and passing that has been so much of the type of football that the youngsters have played all season. They have added more strength in the tackle and move the ball well with pace and skill. Ipswich were not a bad side, but on this form they could not compete.

Having started the season badly, Spurs came close to winning their group. Dropping five points in their last two games means that they cannot catch Villa now. Next weeks game at Watford is the last group game and a chance to finish in second place. On Monday evening the Reserves will be playing Chelsea at Brisbane Road, and after the good performance against the gooners I am hoping for another good show to report on.

Ray

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