Premier Academy U-18 League 2013-4
         Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
         Saturday 2nd November 2013 12 noon

            SPURS      v      SUNDERLAND
         (White/Blue)         (Red/White)
            4-3-3               4-5-1

             1(1)                4(1) 

           Luke McGee  1  Maks Stryjek
         Anton Walkes  2  Ryan Ellison
   Kyle Walker-Peters  3  Thomas Robson
        Filip Lesniak  4  Ethan Robson
Cameron Carter-Vickers 5  David Lowrie
    Christian Maghoma  6  Thomas Beadling
         Nathan Oduwa  7  Jordan Blinco
        Joshua Onomah  8  Martin Smith(C)
      Shayon Harrison  9  Lyndon Gooch
    William Miller(C) 10  Rees Greenwood
           Cy Goddard 11  Dylan McEvoy

       Channing
       Campbell-Young 12  James Stinson
            (2)72Mins     (7)83Mins
       Liam Priestley 13  Greg Previs
       Emanuel Sonupe 14  Ross Colquhoun 
            (8)51Mins
     Anthony Georgiou 15  Andrew Nelson
           (11)69Mins
                      16  Daniel Wright
                          (11)77Mins

Scorers:-
        Harrison 19       E. Robson 40
                          o.g. Lesniak 66
                          Greenwood 70
                          Smith 89 

Coach:- 
          J. McDermott    G. McNamee

Ref:– O. Ayyadi

It was a windy, overcast morning for the visit of Sunderland to Hotspur Way. The Wearsiders started the day mid-table in the northern section having drawn with Aston Villa 1-1 last Saturday. Spurs also drew with Villa on Wednesday. Due to the M25 being at a standstill I got to the game a couple of minutes late.

Spurs lined up with Carter-Vickers and Maghoma at the back with Walkes at right back and Walker-Peters on the left. Lesniak, back from the World Cup, anchored the midfield with Onomah and Miller alongside him. Harrison led the line with Oduwa on his right and Goddard on his left.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the south end but found the visitors quick to close down in all areas of the pitch. Spurs could not dwell on the ball as the visitors were quick into the tackle, causing the ball to be lost and stopping any passing game they had planned.

Blinco fired over before Oduwa whipped in a cross that Harrison could not reach. Miller hit a ball over the top for Walker-Peters to run onto as the keeper came out to close him down. The ball came to Harrison, who put into the empty net for Spurs to take the lead.

Sunderland turned over the ball and countered at pace which won them a free kick just outside the area. Ethan Robson took the kick but saw it hit the far post. The visitors pushed up to defend the 18 yard line, compacting the play and making it difficult for Spurs to find room, so Miller hit a long range effort from about 30 yards which Stryjek saved. McGee saved from Gooch before the same player fired wide.

The "Black Cats" won another free kick from a similar position as before when they hit the post. This time Robson got it right and curled it inside the far post for the equaliser.

The wind got stronger at the start of the second half and was blowing into the faces of the visitors. Spurs made an early change bringing on Sonupe for Onomah initially on the left, moving Goddard into midfield.

Oduwa got round the back and pulled the ball back for Goddard to draw a save from the keeper. Gooch broke away to fire over before Sonupe got down the left and crossed for Miller to force a save from the keeper. The visitors were winning the ball more now and countering quickly with Blinco firing over and Gooch forcing a save from McGee, which dropped for another attacker to shoot over.

Sunderland went ahead when Lesniak was adjudged to have committed a foul. The visitors took the kick quickly to Robson on the right and when his low cross came in, Lesniak diverted it into his own goal. Georgiou came on for Goddard to work the left side with Sonupe on the right while Oduwa joined Harrison up front in a 4-4-2 formation.

Another quick free kick caught Spurs short at the back. Gooch turned Carter-Vickers and laid the ball into the path of Greenwood to drill past McGee. Spurs made their last change replacing Walkes with Campbell-Young who did not stay on for long as he was caught by a heavy challenge. As the referee did not let the trainer on, he got up and tried to continue but had to go off, leaving the home side with ten players.

There was no way back for Spurs as the visitors continued to frustrate them in midfield turning over the ball. Blinco drove wide and Gooch headed over from a centre by Smith. Miller did have an effort that went wide but Walker-Peters had to clear off the line when Gooch turned Robson's cross past McGee. Another turnover saw Smith played in on the right to thump in number four with a couple of minutes left.

This was a bad defeat for Spurs as they were completely over-powered by the visitors. I recognised a few names in the visitors line-up from last season when Spurs beat them easily. This season the boot was on the other foot and it goes to show what a year of U-18 football can do for you. Next year it could be Spurs' turn. Sunderland did not give Spurs any space from closing down the centre-backs to shackling the forwards, having two players on one when challenging for the ball which usually meant that they came away with the ball. It was only when the wingers came on that Spurs players could get away from the tight marking.

That defeat allowed Fulham to go above Spurs in the group with their 6-0 demolition of Blackburn. Spurs will face Fulham next Saturday at Hotspur Way in a top of the table clash.

Ray

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