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Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.
Premier Academy League, Intergroup
Spurs Lodge, Chigwell, Essex.
Saturday 6th February 2011, 11am k.o.
SPURS v ASTON VILLA
(White/Blue) (Claret/Blue)
4-4-2 4-4-2
1(0) 1(0)
Jordan Archer 1 Callum Barratt
Jack Barthram 2 Ebby Nelson-Addy
Zane Francis-Angol 3 Courtney Camerron
Laste Dombaxe(C) 4 Gary Gardner
Olumide Durojaiye 5 Danny Devine
Kevin Stewart 6 Derek Williams
Jesse Waller-Lassen 7 Juan Serrano
DeLa Cruz Vidal
Callum Tapping 8 Samir Carruthers
Kudus Oyenuga 9 Connor Taylor
Jack Munns 10 Daniel Johnson(C)
Alex Pritchard 11 Andras Steiber
Ramil Sheriff 12 Reece Caura
(9)77Mins.
Jonathon Miles 13 Nathan Coton
Ronnie Hawkins 14 Josh Barton
(3)60Mins. (5)50Mins.
Paul McBride 15 Graham Burke
(8)88Mins.
Lee Angol 16 Michael Drennan
(7)66Mins.
Scorers:-
Munns 71 Drennan 87
Booked:-
Waller-Lassen 42(Late)Williams 33(Trip)
Tapping 63(Pull) Gardner 59(Trip)
Durojaiye 78(Late)
Dombaxe 79(Late)
Hawkins 85(Late)
Coach:-
A. Inglethorpe S. Verity
Referee:- M. Blackledge
It was a cool morning with strong gusting winds blowing towards the North end. Considering that the first team were playing later there was a good sized crowd and for once we kicked off an hour earlier than usual at 11am so I was able to get to WHL in time for the game against Bolton.
Spurs lined up with Stewart alongside Durojaiye at the back with Barthram on the right and Francis-Angol on the left. Dombaxe and Tapping started in the centre of midfield with Waller-Lassen starting on the right and Pritchard on the left. Munns supported Oyenuga up front.
Spurs kicked off attacking the South goal, into the wind which made long clearances a novelty. Spurs settled quicker than in previous games and despite the physical attentions of the visitors were able to string passes together and advance towards the goal. Many of the advances were accomplished down the wings with Pritchard and Waller-Lassen having switched sides early on.
Waller-Lassen and Francis-Angol combined well on the left producing the opening chance. Waller-Lassen played the ball inside to Francis-Angol who got inside Nelson-Addy but his effort was blocked and Dombaxe fired the rebound over the bar. A good run by Waller-Lassen saw him cut inside and drive the ball just wide of the far post for a corner. Pritchard took the corner and dropped it under the bar where the keeper fumbled under pressure and a defender knocked it into the net. The ref ruled out the goal for a foul on the keeper.
A ball in from the right was knocked up in the air and Waller-Lassen did not wait for it to drop, executing a chest-high volley that flew wide. On the twenty minute mark Francis-Angol crossed from the left but Munns could not keep his effort down. The visitors' first chance came when Carruthers laid off a ball to Taylor on the right whose pace took him through the back line before his drive was saved by Archer diving to his right.
Pritchard's quick feet left Williams on the floor but the defender would not be beaten and grabbed his foot as he was past him. The ref awarded him the game's first yellow card for the tackle. Villa were getting more into the game and Gardner tried his luck from distance but Archer saved well. Barratt saved well when Dombaxe drove in from a set play corner with Pritchard. Waller-Lassen was booked for a high late challenge on Nelson-Addy that looked worse than it was. Waller-Lassen finished the half with a shot that went over the bar.
There were no changes for the start of the second half which began with Spurs continuing to press. Pritchard put in a tempting cross with which Oyenuga failed to connect. Devine stooped to head out a through ball only to meet Waller-Lassen's raised foot. Both players required treatment but Devine was unable to continue. Oyenuga was played in by Pritchard but took an extra touch before shooting which enabled the keeper to close the gap and save for a corner. After Johnson fired wide Gardner fouled the ever dangerous Pritchard to go into the ref's book. Pritchard took the free kick but fired over.
Inglethorpe replaced Francis-Angol with Hawkins who went into a central midfield position with Tapping moving to left back. Tapping found himself covering a break-out by the visitors where he pulled back the man on the ball as he tried to get away to earn a booking. After Waller-Lassen drove a chance wide, Villa began push forward themselves with Archer saving from Taylor at the expense of a corner and then from Carruthers when played in by Drennan.
As the game opened out, Munns latched onto a through ball and advanced on the keeper unchallenged. Barratt saved his initial effort but Munns put in the loose ball to open the scoring. Johnson drew a save from Archer and Pritchard also produced a save from Barratt as both sides looked to get forward. Durojaiye caught Carruthers late to earn a booking with Archer saving the free kick from Gardner. He was followed into the ref's book by Dombaxe as the "Villans" pushed for a goal.
The goal came from a raid down the left with Johnson crossing to Drennan coming in at the far post. Pritchard fired wide before Inglethorpe made his last change sending on McBride for Tapping to go for the winner. Pritchard moved to the left ahead of Waller-Lassen with McBride taking up station on the right. Most of the remaining play was on the left and that was where the last chance came when Spurs won a free kick just outside the area. Pritchard could not get the ball down enough as it cleared the bar.
Spurs did enough to win this game against one of the strongest sides in the group. Both sides fielded stronger sides than in the reverse fixture but Spurs looked the better with their passing style. The visitors tried to stop with some tough tackling before they opened up and began to pass the ball more themselves. They were helped when Hawkins came on. Young Hawkins has a great eye for a telling pass but when under pressure cannot hold onto the ball enough. It is a side of his game that needs improvement as does his tackling. The team is gelling and Inglethorpe is getting good performances from this group and we should see the benefits next season. With more players getting experience playing in XI games they can only get better.
Next week the academy will be playing in Milton Keynes where I shall be going instead of sunning myself up in the north-east.
Ray
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