FA Premier Academy League, South  
       Milton Keynes Sports Club
   Saturday 8th December 2007, 11am

     MK DONS    V      SPURS   
  (All Black)        (All Yellow)                     
      4-4-2            4-4-2

       0(0)             2(2)

       Kurt Fox 1 Jamie Butler
Mitchell-Coop(C)2 Adam Smith
  Adam Chicksen 3 Sam Cox
    Delderfield 4 Yaser Kasim(C)
  Oliver Thorne 5 Steven Caulker
   Tom Flanagan 6 Callum Butcher
   Tom Williams 7 Kyle Fraser-Allen
     Liam Kelly 8 Dean Parrett
 Stephane Koffi 9 Jonathan Obika
   Liam Powell 10 David Hutton
 Martel Powell 11 Andros Townsend

   Troy Farden 12 Takura Mtandari
                  (5)65Mins.
    Josh Cryan 13 James Dalton
               14 Matthew Wells
        Banton 15 Sol Asajile
		  (11)54Mins.
 Daniel Bailey 16 Mark Clare
		  (2)85Mins.
        Hooker 17 

Scorers:-          Obika 4
                   Fraser-Allen 19

Booked:-
      Thorne 52    Parrett 52

Coaches:-
      M.Dove       A.Inglethorpe

Referee:-  S.Feerick

It was a chilly, rainy morning for this first return fixture in the league. It rained continually from right to left which resulted in players slipping and sliding as well as a few sodden spectators in the crowd of around forty.

Spurs lined up with U-16 defender Caulker alongside Butcher at the back with Smith at right back and Cox coming in at left back. Kasim and Parrett were again in centre midfield with Fraser-Allen on the right wing and Townsend on the left. Hutton started up front with Obika.

Spurs defended the right end with the rain driving into the Dons faces during the first half. The MK Dons had the first effort on goal in the second minute when Powell’s weak shot was easily saved by Butler. Spurs started well with good passing and movement off the ball which the home side did not close down quickly due to the conditions.

Inside five minutes Spurs were in front as Hutton collected the ball deep and played Obika in for a low drive past Fox in goal. The Dons responded with Koffi shooting over and Powell firing wide. Obika put a Townsend cross wide at the near post before Hutton again advanced with the ball and played Fraser-Allen in to draw Fox and lift it over him to double the lead.

The home side tightened up and closed down quicker in the middle of the park to break down more of the play and drive forward, but the Spurs back four were dealing with most things. They did win a free kick just outside the area but Delderfield put the ball wide. Obika had his header saved from a corner before Mitchell-Coop got down the left and fired wide.

While I went for cover the ref allowed only ten minutes for the turnaround so I had to scamper back for the start of the second half. The home side had early pressure with both sides putting in some hard challenges. Cox made two sliding tackles to win the ball before getting up to complete the clearance. Parrett went to ground with Thorne in one challenge which resulted in both players raising their arms at each other and getting a yellow card apiece.

Inglethorpe introduced Asajile on the right wing for Townsend with Fraser-Allen moving to the left side and later Mtandari came on for Caulker. Delderfield tried his luck from distance and laid the ball off to Obika who made Fox work. Parrett was then played in but Fox was out to save at his feet. Smith was so tired from so many raids down the right that it was no surprise that he had to be replaced by Clare late on. It was a tough game in the conditions where both sides gave their all.

This was a good result for the Spurs youngsters who got what they deserved, unlike in the home game when they lost to the same team at home despite having the better of the game. Neither side was as strong as in the first encounter but this time the better side won. The bad conditions contributed to a full-blooded encounter which the ref handled well when Parrett and Thorne could have been sent off for raising their hands to each other. This result keeps the pressure on the top two teams and a good platform for Wednesday when they go to Southampton in the FA Youth cup. Next Saturday they will entertain bottom side Coventry City at the Lodge.

Ray

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