Premier Academy League South
       Spurs Lodge, Chigwell, Essex
     Saturday 1st November 2008, 11am

        SPURS       v       MK DONS
     (All White)           (All Red)
        4-4-2                4-4-2

         6(4)                 0(0)

     Oscar Jannson  1 Kurt Fox
        Adam Smith  2 George Williams
           Sam Cox  3 (17)Adam Chicksen
       Yaser Kasim  4 Martel Powell
 Stephen Caulker(C) 5 David King(C)
      Calum Butcher 6 Tom Flanagan
        Paul M’Poku 7 Troy Farden
   Jonathan Bostock 8 Justin Dowling
     Jonathan Obika 9 Daniel Delderfield
        Ryan Mason 10 Daniel Powell
   Andros Townsend 11 Michael O’Hanlon

      James Dalton 12 Ashley Harrison
      Anthony Jack 13 Hayden Carter
         (7)67Mins.
       Coskun Ekim 14 Harry Milton
        (8)74Mins.    (11)46Mins.
        Ajet Shehu 15 Jordan Browne
        (2)84Mins.    (7)60Mins.

Coaches:-
     A.Inglethorpe    M. Dove

Scorers:-
Mason 4
Townsend 18, 48
o.g. Farden 30
Obika 42
M’Poku 65

Booked:-
    Mason 11(Late)    Flanagan 9(Late)
                      Farden 49(Late)

Referee:- P. Kelly

Spurs kicked off attacking the South goal, and Fox had an easy save from Townsend in the first minute. We did not have to wait long as Townsend crossed for Mason to drive home inside five minutes. Fox had to save from Mason a couple of minutes later. In the next attack Mason played the ball out to Townsend who beat two defenders before drawing a good save from the keeper. Flanagan then went into the refs book for a foul on Smith just as he was away into the visitors half. Mason followed him into the book when he lost the ball and, when no foul was given, chased back to foul the Dons player.

Mason caught King in possession on the edge of the area but put his effort wide. Minutes later Mason played in Townsend who made no mistake shooting into the far corner. When Mason caught Martel Powell the ref gave him a warning as he already had a yellow. Fox had an easy save from a Bostock effort but had to watch as Caulker headed the ball onto the roof of the net from a Mason corner. Mason had another chance which went wide before his corner kick produced the next goal. His near post corner was headed into his own goal by Farden.

Smith picked up the ball from Jansson and ran into the other half; tried to lay it off, and had to win it back before being tackled just outside the area. He regained the ball before firing just over. Obika was played in by Bostock but fired wide before he received the ball running down the right channel and cutting inside to beat the keeper with a low drive. Fox saved from M’Poku and Obika fired wide as the half ended.

The Dons made one change for the second half but Spurs continued with the dominance they showed in the first half. The visitors never got to grips with the one touch football and running off the ball especially the pace of Townsend.

With the half barely two minutes old M’Poku collected the ball just inside his own half; made a diagonal run holding off two challenges before playing the ball out to Townsend on the left. He came inside and drove the ball low into the net.

Delderfield was booked for a foul on Cox as he became more isolated up field. Townsend collected the ball in his own half laid it off to Cox and sprinted forty yards down the line to reach the return pass. Obika run onto a through ball and drew a save from Fox. Spurs got the sixth when Townsend crossed after another run down the flank and M’Poku met it to score from ten yards.

Jack replaced M’Poku on the right as Spurs kept running at the Dons defence, who were pulling players back with 8 or 9 players behind the ball at times. Obika broke through down the left channel but drove into the side netting. Ekim came on for Bostock and was soon making runs at the visitors. The Dons did get the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside. Daniel Powell got through but fired wide just before Inglethorpe made his last change. Shehu came on and played at the back with Butcher moving to right back. From this position Butcher made a run into the opposing penalty area before losing the ball. The last chance of the game fell to the visitors when Powell got through again and Jansson had to make his first save diving to his left in the last minute.

Two seasons ago the MK Dons came to the Lodge for the last game of the season with the hosts riding high and the visitors bottom of the group. The result that day was a stunning 6-2 victory to the visitors. Today saw Spurs finally lay that result to rest. This was such a one-sided game that Jansson might just as well have stayed at home. His one save and a few collections during the ninety minutes tells its own story. The passing and running was so good that it could have been a lot more. The MK Dons are normally a lot stronger and make life difficult so it shows how well Alex Inglethorpe has got them playing. They stand at the top of their group with only one defeat in ten games – the opposite of the first team.(Ed: at the time of writing!) Next week they are away to Watford before two home games against Birmingham and Coventry. Before that the Reserves have a game at Brisbane Road where the visitors are West Ham. That kicks off at 7pm on Monday.

Ray