Premier U-21 League 2013-14
       Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
         Monday 10th March 2014, 12 noon

             SPURS    v     W.B.A.
         (White/Blue)     (Red/Black)
             4-3-3          4-4-2

              5(4)           2(1) 

          Luke McGee  1  Luke Daniels
        Alex McQueen  2  Wesley Akinson
      Ezekiel Fryers  3  Jordan Francis
     Milos Veljkovic  4  Liam O'Neil
       Kevin Stewart  5  Donervorn Daniels(C)
      Connor Ogilvie  6  Callam Jones
      Kenneth McEvoy  7  Kemar Roofe
         Harry Winks  8  Aaron Birch
        Harry Kane(C) 9  Alex Jones
       Joshua Onomah 10  Mani O'Sullivan
 Shaquile Coulthirst 11  Samir Nabi

        LasteDombaxe 12  Kyle Howkins
           (4)88Mins
      Liam Priestley 13  Alex Palmer
       Aaron McEneff 14  Rees Wedderburn
           (3)63Mins     (11)63Mins
        Nathan Oduwa 15  Shaun Donnellan
           (9)63Mins     (8)86Mins
                     16  Andre Wright(9)

Scorers:-  
        McEvoy 10        Roofe 37, 71 
        Ogilvie 15
        Kane 31, 39
        Coulthirst 78

Booked:- 
                         Francis 60(Foul)

Coach:-   
        P. Brush         D. Oldfield

Referee:– A. Sannerude
Assistants:– D. Foreman & L. Marks

It was a cloudy chilly morning for today's U-21 game at Hotspur Way with West Brom the visitors. From the side of the pitch it was not clear that there was a wind blowing towards the west end that affected the keeper's kicking. Spurs came into todays match without a win in five games, three points behind the "Baggies" knowing a win would take them above their visitors.

Spurs lined up with McGee back from a loan spell at Harlow in goal. Stewart and Ogilvie started at the back with McQueen at right back and Fryers on the left. Veljkovic anchored the midfield with Onomah and Winks. Kane led the line with McEvoy on his right and Coulthirst on his left. When the U-18 sides played, McGee, Ogilvie, Winks and Onomah played while Nabi featured for the visitors along with their subs. With Benfica due on Thursday, Kane and Fryers were not expected to play the whole 90 minutes.

Spurs kicked off attacking the east end in the first half and settled quickly with the young players wanting to move the ball fasr, with Coulthirst being played through by Kane but ruled offside. Roofe fired over from a free kick before Spurs took the lead following a free kick. The kick was given for a 30 yard back-pass which was caught by the keeper. The defender had played the ball to prevent Coulthirst having a one on one with the keeper. Coulthirst tapped the ball to Kane on the edge of the area who drove it into the far post. Daniels got across to save, pushing the ball out to Onomah and then saved the midfielder's effort only for the ball to come out to McEvoy who drove in on the other side of the goal.

McEvoy then turned provider when he got down the right and pulled the ball back for the advancing Ogivie on the edge of the area. The defender finished as well as any striker to put Spurs two up in the space of five minutes.

Spurs kept the pressure on with Winks' ball in from the right for Kane, who put the ball wide. Albion were mainly looking to counter and O'Sullivan drew a save from McGee. McEvoy switched sides and played a lovely through ball for Coulthirst on the right and got into the area for the return which he hit over the bar.

Kane fired wide from McQueen's cross before he got onto the score sheet when Veljkovic played him in through the left channel for a low finish under the keeper. West Brom pulled a goal back when they worked the ball down the left and when the ball was crossed, Nabi turned his marker firing low to McGee's right.

Kane restored Spurs three goal lead when he got on the end of Coulthirst's cross from the left and had time to curl it into the far corner of the net. The striker should have completed his hat trick in added time when he got round the keeper on the left and stepped inside the last man but slipped at the vital moment.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw the visitors look to push forward more. Having pushed forward for a corner the ball came out to McEvoy and as he pushed the ball past Francis, with a clear field in front of him, the defender fouled him to receive the only booking of the match. With 70 yards to go it was not considered a goal scoring opportunity but McEvoy has scored before from such a position.

On the hour mark, Kane and Fryers came off to be replaced by Oduwa and McEneff. Oduwa went to the left side of the attack with Coulthirst moving into the middle. McEneff went to right back with McQueen moving into the middle and Stewart going to left back. The changes seemed to take a little while to settle in, allowing West Brom to take their chance. Roofe fired over from a central position before he collected a cross at the back post to score via a couple of deflections. The winger also had another effort saved by McGee.

The goal got Spurs moving again and after good work down the left Ogilvie took a quick throw in to Coulthirst in a central position. The striker turned his man and hit the ball as it went across him to send it into the far side of the net. It was a perfect strike, as the ball flew like an arrow giving the keeper no chance.

McEvoy was played through down the right by Coulthirst but he fired wide. Spurs made their last change when Dombaxe replaced Veljkovic in midfield. It was a surprise as Gallifuoco was listed as sub on the teamsheet, but he was a late withdrawal due to a calf injury. With the visitors pushing men forward, Spurs were always ready to counter and in the 90th minute Coulthirst had an effort from the left that went wide for a corner.

This was a good win for Spurs and could have been by a bigger margin. The younger players injected more pace and Ogilvie came out of the back as well to put pressure on the visitors throughout the game to give it an Academy feel. Plenty of positive play from both sides led to an open game where Spurs showed how the game should be played. The visitors may point to the goal from the back pass as being lucky as it started the ball rolling but the passing of Spurs meant it was only a matter of time before they broke through. They need to carry this on into their next game which is away to Middlesbrough on Monday 24th and then when they meet Arsenal the following Friday at WHL.

Ray

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