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Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.
Pre Season Friendly
Ebb Stadium, Aldershot, Hampshire
Tuesday 29th July 2008, 7.45pm
ALDERSHOT TOWN v SPURS XI
(All Red) (White/Blue)
4-4-2 4-4-2
1(0) 3(3)
Nikki Bull(C) 1 David Button
Ben Starosta 2 Paul Stalteri
Anthony Straker 3 Young-Pyo Lee
Chris Blackburn 4 John Bostock
Anthony Charles 5 Troy
Archibald-Henville(C)
Lewis Chalmers 6 Ricardo Rocha
Scott Donnelly 7 David Hutton
Ben Harding 8 Kevin-Prince Boateng
Kirk Hudson 9 Tomas Pekhart
Marvin Morgan 10 Andrew Barcham
Danny Hylton 11 Danny Rose
Louie Soares 12 Lee Butcher
(15)46Mins.
Dean Howell 13 Yuri Berchiche
(10)46Mins. (6)46Mins.
Ricky Newman 14 Cian Hughton
(4)52Mins. (3)46Mins.
Jomo Thomas 15 Alex Olsen
(2)68Mins. (5)81Mins.
Mikhael Jaimez 16 Kieran McKenna
(1)55Mins. (10)55Mins.
Jason Milletti 17 Danny Hutchins
(6)77Mins. (2)55Mins.
18 Kyle Fraser-Allen
(8)68Mins.
Scorers:-
Hylton 75 Hutton 5
Pekhart 16
Barcham 30
Coaches:-
G. Waddock C. Allen
Referee:- D. Sheldrake
Assistants:- P. Melin, M. Webb, A. Neil
Attendance:- 1,830
It was a warm evening without the downpours from the last two occasions I was here. Clive had more players to choose from since the game at Crawley and used some of the players that were in Spain with the first team squad, as well as other members of the of the squad that did not go. Spurs lined up with Archibald-Henville partnered by Rocha at the back with Stalteri at right back and Lee on the left. Bostock and Boateng in central midfield with Hutton on the right flank and Rose on the left. Barcham sat just behind Pekhart up front.
Spurs defended the west end attacking up the slope in the first half and surprised the Conference champions with their speed and quick closing down of the player on the ball. The home side were not allowed to dwell on the ball having to release it quickly or lose it which left them under pressure early on.
Barcham won the ball and played in Pekhart whose effort was saved inside four minutes. Barcham again won the ball as the Shots tried to move forward and played it into Rose who sent it out to Pekhart on the left. He crossed low for Hutton to drive it low into the net to open the scoring.
Blackburn headed wide of the far post from a free kick conceded by Lee on Morgan. Spurs increased their lead when Boateng struck a volley from just outside the area which Bull saved diving to his right. Unfortunately for him the ball fell at the feet of Pekhart who had time to control it before firing home.
The home side responded but Button saved a free kick before Spurs were attacking again. Barcham had an effort saved before he worked his way down the right before putting over a high ball which the keeper failed to hold and Straker had to hack it clear. The next attack saw Pekhart hit his shot well over, hitting the roof of the stand behind the goal. More good work on the left resulted in a low cross which Barcham struck low to the keepers right. Bull got his hands to it but could not stop it going in.
Spurs were controlling the game with Bostock and Boateng winning balls in the middle and the back four under little pressure. Lee played a bad back pass which was pounced on by Hylton who took the ball wide of Button but saw his shot hit the near post. This seemed to stir the home side and Straker had a long shot that Button collected easily. With a few minutes left Barcham set up Boateng who put the chance over and Morgan created an opening at the other end.
Both sides made changes for the second half with Clive Allen replacing Rocha with Berchiche and Lee with Hughton. Ten minutes in and he replaced Stalteri with Hutchins and took off Barcham. His replacement was McKenna who went into centre midfield with Bostock moving up in support of Pekhart.
Soares, one of the home subs, ran onto a through ball but his shot was saved by Button. Another sub then got into the action by playing a back pass towards the goal as the keeper, another sub came out to collect. Jaimez-Ruiz scrambled back to hook the ball off the line. Fraser-Allen then came on for Boateng taking a position on the right with Hutton moving inside to support Pekhart, allowing Bostock to drop back into midfield.
McKenna took a free kick after Hutton was fouled running through, which was saved. After Button had saved from Harding, Bostock took a square ball in his stride to go clear of the defence but put his effort wide as the keeper came out quickly. Thomas put over a high ball which Button tried to catch at full stretch. He dropped the ball at the feet of Hylton who quickly controlled and it before slotting in at the near post. It was a deserved goal for the increased pressure they had started to apply.
Hylton had another chance when the ball was played to him just inside the area. He controlled the ball with his first touch and struck it on the turn into the side netting. When Hylton dispossessed McKenna in his own half he had only Archibald-Henville to beat to go clear. Troy knocked him over which caused some of the home players to protest strongly along with the crowd. After the ref spoke to him Clive took him off. Olsen was the only outfield player left so he went up front with McKenna dropping into the back four and Hutton replacing him in midfield. This left us a little light at the back which the home side tried to exploit with some strong running at the defence. With five minutes left Button saved diving to his left pushing the ball out which Soares fired wide.
This was a good performance from Allen’s side which started off running rings round the Aldershot players. Playing quick one-twos the home side were also caught in possession by the speed of the tackles. Bostock and Boateng had control of the middle prompting the forwards and spreading the ball well. After the third goal, the home side flagged and Spurs relaxed a bit which resulted in a few bits of sloppy defending. The changes made allowed the home side to put more pressure on and create chances to get back into the game. I was impressed with Bostock’s all round performance and I can see Palace getting more money from us. The only poor point on the night was the Aldershot goal which was caused by Button trying to catch a ball he should have pushed out. He has been doing it for some time now conceding a number of goals. The Archibald-Henville foul was what he had to do to stop the player getting free but looked worse than it was.
The Spurs XI play Rushden and Diamonds next week and with the group of players on show this evening should have a good chance of a result to make up for the loss last year.
Ray
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