Premier Academy League, Gp.B      
         Reading Training ground,
        Hogwood Pk. Finchampstead  
       Saturday 7th March 2009, 2pm

        READING      v      SPURS 
    (Blue/White)        (All Black)
        4-4-2              4-4-2

         4(4)               4(1)

                     1 Jamie Butler
                     2 Adam Smith
                     3 Jake Nicholson
                     4 Yaser Kasim
   Clovis Kamdjo (C) 5 Nathan Byrne
                     6 Calum Butcher(C)
                     7 Kudus Oyenuga
                     8 Sam Cox
   Radoslav Vasilev  9 Jonathan Obika
       Andrew White 10 Ryan Mason
                    11 Ryan Fredericks

                    12 Mirko Ranieri
          (11)68Mins.
                    13 Steven Caulker 
                       (2)26Mins
                    14 Danny Rose
                       (7)46Mins.
                    15 Dean Parrett
          (10)89Mins.  (11)58Mins.
                    16 John Bostock
                    17
         (7)90+1Mins.

Scorers:-
       Kamdjo 9         Mason 28(pen), 64
       Vasilev 13       Obika 48
       No.11   24       Caulker 70
       No. 7   37

Booked:-
      No.4 82(Late)     Parrett 81(Late)
      No.8 88(Foul)   

Coaches:-
          E. Dolan      A. Inglethorpe

Ref:- A. Fielding

Spurs lined up with Butcher and Byrne at the back with Smith on the right and Nicholson on the left. Kasim and Cox were in the centre of midfield with Fredericks on the right and Oyenuga on the left. Mason supported Obika up front.

Spurs kicked off attacking the north end but either the fatigue from Thursday evening or the changes to the team failed to produce the flowing football that we are used to seeing. Young Fredericks showed some pace down the flanks but little judgement when on the ball and will need time to fit in.

Reading took full advantage of our disjointed performance to create chances. Kamdjo put a header over after two minutes before Mason got down the left and crossed for Fredericks to head over. A Mason corner was touched back by Oyenuga which was put wide by Fredericks.

The home side went ahead from a free kick that Kamdjo scored from with a looping header just under the bar at the far post. Spurs pushed forward and Oyenuga’s weak effort was gathered by the keeper. Vasilev got behind the defence to meet a ball over the top, but his first effort was blocked by Butler before he put in the rebound to put them two up.

A shot on the turn by Vasilev came off the inside of the post and went across the goal before being cleared. Minutes later it was 3-0 when the left winger got behind the defence and on a diagonal run from right to left and scored from close in.

Inglethorpe took off Smith for Caulker and reorganised the back line with Nicholson moving to right back and Byrne to left back so that Caulker paired up with Butcher in the centre. This strengthened the defence and gave more confidence to the rest and produced a reply quickly. Obika was played through down the right channel and was tripped by the big No.6 for a penalty. Mason placed his kick low to the keepers right.

Spurs began to settle and get some passing together but were caught out when the Royals got down the left and the lively No.7 received the ball at the near post, evading the challenge to slot home. The same player fired wide as the half ended.

Inglethorpe replaced Oyenuga with Rose for the second half and he was soon making runs down the wing taking on defenders. He could have had a penalty when a defender caught his leg as he went past him. Obika picked up the ball just outside the area on the right, lost his marker and went across the line before putting in a low drive from the left across the keeper into the far corner of the net.

The tide was turning and Spurs were now on top. Rose almost scored diving in at the near post with the keeper and a defender just blocking the effort. Parrett replaced Fredericks as Inglethorpe sought to maintain the push. Mason drove wide and then was fed the ball by Parrett about 25 yards out. His first time effort curled high over the keeper into the net to close the gap to one goal.

It was all Spurs now as Reading retreated to defend in depth. Kasim drove over and Cox saw his drive deflected for a corner. Mason swung the corner in and Caulker jumped highest to head in the equaliser. Obika then saw his effort go for a corner. Parrett was then shown a yellow for diving in to a tackle after the ball got away from him. He was quickly followed into the ref's book by a Reading player who took out Rose wide on the left. Another home player went into the book when he stopped Obika after he had got through the middle. Luckily for him Rose had taken the other defender out of the middle with a run to the left which allowed the ref to be lenient as he was not the last man. Mason flighted the free kick to the left for Caulker to head across the goal, but it was cleared from under the bar. The home side held out after bringing on another defender to strengthen the defence to the final whistle.

It looked like Spurs were heading for a heavy defeat after the first half as not much had gone right for them, but Inglethorpe acted quickly in sending on Caulker to bolster the defence. With the quick goals in the second half, the game was turned on its head and Spurs looked like they would go on and win it. In fact I’m sure that Inglethorpe will look at it as points dropped as opposed to a point won. It was good to see Rose back and he looked good from the start but was taken out by a defender in the last minute and send crashing into the barrier where he lay for some minutes after the game. Hopefully he is okay. Obika showed that he is learning to play with his back to goal and did well holding off the two big central defenders.

Next week the Under-18’s entertain Leicester City at the Lodge. They beat them 4-3 away but City have been improving over recent weeks winning their last two games 5-0 to climb the table and are now three points behind us.

On Monday evening the reserves will play Fulham at Brisbane Road and are likely to have some academy players in the squad. In the away fixture the Cottagers had a number of first team squad players playing.