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Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.
Premier Academy League, Group B
Birmingham City training ground,
Redhill Rd., Kings Norton
Saturday 16th October 2010, 12am
BIRMINGHAM CITY v SPURS
(Blue/White) (White/Blue)
4-4-2 4-4-2
6(4) 0(0)
Josh Swann 1 Jonathan Miles
Alpa Ozturk 2 Callum Tapping
Luke Rowe 3 Kevin Stewart
Reece Fleet 4 Laste Dombaxe(C)
Dan Preston 5 Jack Barthram
Fraser Kerr 6 William Ekong
Omar Bogle 7 Jesse Waller-Lassen
Will Packwood 8 Jack Munns
Akwasi Asante 9 Kudus Oyenuga
Eddy Gnahore 10 Freddie Champion
Jakub Hronec 11 Darren McQueen
Callum Reilly 12 Rueban Lameiras
(7)46Mins. (10)58Mins.
13 Jordan Archer
Sam Westley 14 Daniel Day
(2)73Mins. (6)37Mins.
Brice Ntambwe 15 Lee Angol
(10)77 mins. (11)77Mins.
Scorers:-
Asante 4(pen), 31, 36, 44, 72
Hronec 90+1
Booked:-
Ozturk 71(Late) Yeboah 3(Trip)
Westley 89(Trip)
Coach:-
T. Westley A. Inglethorpe
Referee:- T. Harty
It was a bright morning when I arrived at the Birmingham Wast Hills training ground, but it clouded over during the game. There were no teamsheets available except for a chosen few – needless to say I was not one. I did hear that they used to do them but had stopped for some reason. One official said that as Spurs did not let them know yesterday they were unable to print any. Not good enough. Despite their reluctance I did manage to find out most of their players.
Spurs had another young side out with a few names that I am not sure of so apologies for any errors. Miles was again in goal and in front of him Barthram and Ekong came into the side at the heart of the defence with Tapping at right back and Stewart on the left. Dombaxe and Munns started in the centre of midfield with Waller-Lassen on the right side and McQueen on the left. Unknown player supported Oyenuga up front. I was told that only half of the City team were second year scholars which should have meant a closer game than some we have played.
Spurs defended the south end in the first half and created the first opening when Dombaxe played a ball through to Oyenuga who was just wide with his drive. Then Spurs' weakness in defence was exposed when Asante held off Ekong to run into the area before the young Spurs defender tripped him from behind to earn a yellow card and concede a penalty. Asante stepped up to send Miles the wrong way putting the ball low to his right.
From then on the Blues dominated the game and Ozturk hit the far post three minutes later. Munns had a low drive deflected for a corner before Ozturk had another run and shot wide. Gnahore was played in from the right to finish with a low drive to increase the lead. Waller-Lassen saw his effort go just wide of the near post having switched to the left and Fleet drove wide before Asante got his and City's third. The City striker easily out-muscled Ekong to score which prompted Inglethorpe to replace Ekong with Day. Day came on and went to left back with Stewart moving across to the right side to allow Tapping to take Ekong's place in the middle. Tapping has more experience but he also struggled to control Asante, who scored again, this time from a corner. Miles saved from Hronec in added time.
Birmingham made a change for the second half and Spurs looked to get back into the game with a bit more possession. Hronec fired wide before Oyenuga lifted his shot over the bar having been played in on the right. Champion came on for Unknown player who was not looking match fit, but young Freddie was smaller than the player he replaced and just as ineffective. Miles saved from Asante after he had been played in by Reilly. Ozturk was booked for his second foul on Waller-Lassen. Asante got past Tapping to score his fifth goal of the game.
Inglethorpe made his last change bringing on Angol for McQueen. Oyenuga wasted a good chance by firing wide and Champion hit the far post from an Angol cross.Spurs continued to look for a consolation goal with Munns just failing to reach a low driven cross by Waller-Lassen at the far post. Dombaxe played in Waller-Lassen but his volley was saved. Reilly saw his effort fly over before Oyenuga dribbled into the area from the left and was fouled by one of the defenders who was booked. Waller-Lassen took the penalty kick and crashed it against the crossbar. Birmingham conceded another free kick which was taken by Dombaxe and saved by Butland. As we went into added time Hronec got down the left and scored with a low drive from a sharp angle to complete the rout.
It is getting to be a habit where I say that the opposition were bigger and stronger than Spurs which was true again today. It seems that all the sides we have played have more experienced players in their side than ours. The only time Spurs have looked good was when Kane and Durojaiye have played as their size and experience makes up for the lack of it in the rest of the team. This is going to be a long hard season if we cannot use more second year scholars to strengthen the side. Birmingham were quicker and sharper in the tackle as our players were playing like U-16's. I am sure they will get better as the season progresses. The only consolation was that the U-16s won their match 3-0. Next week there is a half term break so the next Academy game will be on the 30th October when Coventry City are the visitors to the Lodge.
Ray
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