Premier Academy League, Group B
         Aston Villa Training Ground,
               Bodymoor Heath

      Saturday 20th November 2010, 12am


        ASTON VILLA   v    SPURS
       (Claret/Blue)    (White/Blue)
           4-4-2           4-4-2

            2(1)            1(0)


      Callum Barratt  1 Jonathon Miles
    Ebby Nelson-Addy  2 Jack Barthram
   Courteney Cameron  3 Alex McQueen
    Samir Carruthers  4 Callum Tapping
      Janoi Donacien  5 Kevin Stewart
    Derrick Williams  6 Ramil Sheriff
       Darius Darkin  7 Jesse Waller-Lassen
       Connor Taylor  8 Laste Dombaxe(C)
     Michael Drennan  9 Shaqille Coulthirst
      Daniel Johnson 10 Jack Munns
        Graham Burke 11 Alex Pritchard

      Jordan Graham  12 Ronnie Hawkins
         (9)65Mins.     (11)77Mins.
         Craig Hill  13 Jordan Archer
       Reece Caira   14 Daniel Day
         (4)57Mins.
       Joshua Webb   15 Lee Angol
      (10)90+2Mins.     (9)87Mins.
                     16 Freddie Champion 

Scorer:-
     Johnson 10 pen     Tapping 76
     Taylor 90+1 

Booked:-
  Carruthers 7(Late)    Waller-Lassen 36(Abuse)
  Nelson-Addy 38(Trip) 
  Donacien 63(Late) 

Coach:-
        T. McAndrew     A. Inglethorpe

Referee:– D. Kuzmanovic
Asst. Refs:- K. Jefferies, Ms. Arrowsmith

Spurs lined up with Stewart and Sheriff at the back with Barthram on the right and McQueen on the left. Tapping was the holding player in the centre of midfield alongside Dombaxe with Waller-Lassen on the right flank and Pritchard on the left. Munns supported Coulthirst up front.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the north end but the home side usually start strongly and forced a number of corners mainly down the right side. From one of these Sheriff broke away and was stopped by a very late tackle by Carruthers which earnt him a yellow. A ball was played in from the right and flicked on by a Villa player but straight to Barthram who chested down and cleared. To the amazement of everybody the ref blew for handball and gave a penalty. No Villa player called for it and even the assistant ref on our side, who had a clear view, said no, but the ref gave it. Johnson accepted the gift, stepped up and fired low to Miles left to put the home side in front.

Spurs reacted well with Pritchard firing wide. Munns attempted a first time volley on the turn that was also wide. Coulthirst saw his header saved before Burke's header from a corner was saved by Miles. Barratt saved form Pritchard before Spurs conceded a free kick just outside the area. Cameron curled his kick around the wall into the side netting with me thinking that it had gone in. Carruthers fired wide before Waller-Lassen was booked for swearing at the ref when he thought that another decision had gone against Spurs. Nelson-Addy was booked for a trip on McQueen as he got through on the left. Waller-Lassen was tripped just outside the area on the right which looked worse than the earlier one but no yellow card was shown. Pritchard put the free kick over the bar. Drennan drew a save from Miles before Waller-Lassen was brought down again in the same place for another free kick which Pritchard drove over as well.

The second half started in the same open attacking way as the first with Taylor getting two early chances. The first he lifted over the bar and the second he put wide. Waller-Lassen was again tripped just outside the area, this time Dombaxe took the kick and drew a save from Barratt. Waller-Lassen was then able to get into the area before being fouled which was a soft penalty, but I think the ref was trying to make amends for the first one. Dombaxe spurned the chance by firing over the bar. Dombaxe fired wide from a corner before Drennan saw his low drive cleared off the line. Donacien was then late on Pritchard and picked up a booking before Dombaxe forced a save from the keeper.

With Spurs showing more in the game as it went on, they got the equaliser when the "Villans" failed to clear a corner and Tapping lifted his effort over the pack in front of him and over the hand of the keeper into the net. Inglethorpe brought on Hawkins for Pritchard moving Munns wide and Dombaxe forward to support Coulthirst. Hawkins is a good passer of the ball but not a good tackler which allowed the home side to drive forward in search of a winner. Taylor drove wide as did Burke. Angol came on for Coulthirst to strenghten the midfield but Villa had the momentum. Johnson made a run to the left touchline and crossed for Taylor to tap in at the far post from about a yard out. The goal came in the first minute of added time and Spurs threw everything at Villa in the remaining minutes. The closest they came was when Waller-Lassen's effort was blocked by Williams for a corner.

This was a good performance by Spurs as they showed some of the quick one touch football that is so much the style of play that Inglethorpe coaches. Sheriff and Stewart are forming a good partnership at the back and a little bit more consistency should bring better results. Usually the ref is the only one not to see a foul but today he was the only one to see it. It can be argued that his mistake cost Spurs at least a point, but it was a fairly even game throughout and either side could have won it. The U-16 side won their game 3-1.

There is no game next week so Spurs entertain the bottom team MK Dons at the Lodge on the 4th December. It is not a forgone conclusion that we will win it as it will depend on the team that Inglethorpe puts out bearing in mind that they will be playing Barnsley on the following Tuesday in the FA Youth Cup.

Ray