Premier Academy League, Group B
        Wellington Sports ground,
        Stoneham Lane, Eastleigh

     Saturday 17th April 2010, 12am

    PORTSMOUTH     v      SPURS

   (Blue/White)        (White/Blue)

      4-4-2               4-4-2

       0(0)                2(0)

     Liam O'Brien  1 Jordan Archer
    Louis Tallack  2 Jack Barthram
       Dan Butler  3 Zaine Francis-Angol
    George Colson  4 Jake Nicholson
      Dan Bennett  5 Nathan Byrne
        Sam Magri  6 Oluimide Durojaiye
   Elliot Wheeler  7 Laste Dombaxe
    Ashley Harris  8 Alex Pritchard
      Kyle Walshe  9 Kudus Oyenuga
   Billy Tsovolos 10 Tom Carroll
    Jordan Hughes 11 Paul-Jose M'Poku

  Louis Stockford 12 Stewart
       (6)68Mins.
                  14 Callum Tapping
                     (7)71Mins.
   James Jennings 15 Jack Munns
       (7)68Mins.    (8)77Mins.
                  16 Darren McQueen
                     (2)89Mins.

Scorers:-
                     Dombaxe 50
                     McQueen 90+1

Bookings:-

 Butler  15(Trip)
 Bennett 61(Trip)

Coach:-
       P. Smalley    A. Inglethorpe

Ref:- B. Knight

Spurs lined up with Byrne and Durojaiye in front of Archer with Barthram at right back and Francis-Angol on the left. Nicholson and Pritchard started in the centre of midfield with Dombaxe on the right side and M'Poku on the left with Carroll in support of Oyenuga up front.

Spurs kicked off attacking the east end but the home side had the first chances when Hughes drove wide and Archer had a simple save from Magri after a corner. He followed that up with a save from a corner before giving the ball away with a bad clearance.

Spurs began to gain control from then on, with M'Poku making space for a shot that was saved. Butler was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Nicholson that led to the free kick by M'Poku hitting the left post. A minute later Pritchard's cross shot hit the same post. Portsmouth could not contain the close control of M'Poku who usually came away with the ball and after firing over saw a low drive hit the outside of the right post. O'Brien was called on to make saves from Carroll and then Pritchard before Barthram drove wide. Harris fired wide before M'Poku sent a free kick wide as the half ended.

There were no changes at the start of the second half and Spurs finally broke the deadlock five minutes into the second half. M'Poku made space on the left to curl a ball into the far post which was missed by the defender. Dombaxe controlled the ball on his chest before poking the ball home.

Carroll fired wide as did Harris and Pritchard in their turn. Francis-Angol made a surging run from the back and was stopped just outside the D at the expense of a booking by Bennett. M'Poku hit the free kick well over. His next effort was saved for a corner. The home side made two changes to get back into the game which saw Hughes fire over. Inglethorpe replaced Dombaxe with Tapping and Munns came on for Pritchard.

Stockford shot over and Jennings drove wide as Pompey came back into the game. O'Brien saved from Oyenuga and then from M'Poku conceding a corner. With time running out Inglethorpe took off Barthram for McQueen on the right with Tapping dropping to right back. Having only been on for two minutes McQueen ran onto a through ball to fire low past O'Brien to make the scoreline more respectable. Bennett put his effort wide as Spurs closed out the game.

It was another good performance from the youngsters as they look to close the gap at the top of the group. Both sides had to use more U-16 players because of call-ups to their respective first teams leaving spaces on the subs' bench as on the next pitch the U-16's sides met as well – Spurs winning that one 3-0. The young players fitted in well to the quick passing game that Inglethorpe uses so effectively. Leicester maintained their 11 point lead with a late winner to beat Youth cup finalists Chelsea 3-2. We have two games in hand should they lose a game before the end of the group stage, which is something that hasn't happened all season. So we could still pip them to first place.

Next saturday while all eyes are on Old Trafford the youth team will be away to Arsenal at London Colney. With a 0-0 draw at Coventry and the defeat of Chelsea the gooners have won their group this week and they will be a stern test for our young side.

Ray

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