Premier U-18 League
               Southern League 2014-15
           Cobham, Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey
         Saturday 28th February 2015, 11.07am.

              CHELSEA    v    SPURS
            (All Blue)      (All Black)
               4-3-3          4-3-3

                2(0)           1(1)

        Bradley Collins  1 Thomas Glover
         Dujon Sterling  2 Christopher Paul
             Ali Suljic  3 Joseph Muscatt
             Josh Grant  4 Charlie Owens(C)
           Cole Dasilva  5 Japhat Tanganga
           Ruben Sammut  6 Jaden Brown
      Charlie Wakefield  7 Marcus Edwards
            Mukhtar Ali  8 Charlie Hayford
               Ike Ugbo  9 Ryan Loft
          Kyle Scott(C) 10 Dylan Duncan
        Hubert Adamczyk 11 Kaziah Sterling

           Faiq Bolkiah 12 George Marsh
              (2)33Mins    (8)44Mins
         Jared Thompson 13 Thomas McDermott
           Jeremie Boga 14 Jack Roles
              (7)46Mins    (7)79Mins
            Mason Mount 15 Armani Daly
             (10)79Mins    (9)66Mins
             Mark Guehi 16

Scorer:-
             Boga 68       Loft (pen) 34
             Ugbo 84

Booked:-
          Ali 21(Foul)     Marsh 67(Foul)
       Sammut 60(Foul)

Coaches:-
          J. Edwards       K. McKenna 

Spurs travelled to Cobham to play Southern League winners Chelsea in third place knowing a victory would guarantee a top four finish. With the two teams meeting in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup next week the clubs agreed to play U-16 players. Interestingly while Spurs started with two players involved in the 2-4 defeat to Chelsea in September, Chelsea had seven.

Spurs lined up with Glover in goal behind Tanganga and Brown with Paul at right back and Muscatt on the left. Owens anchored the midfield with Hayford and Duncan. Loft led the line with Edwards on the right and Sterling on the left. It did look at times that as Spurs had no wingers Edwards was the right of a midfield diamond with Duncan at the point.

There was a delay before the start of the game as the game moved from one playing pitch to another lined with trees. Spurs defended the East end in the first half but made a good start in an open game played mainly in the middle of the pitch. Sterling had an early chance that was wide before Adamczyk fired wide for the home side. On twenty minutes Sterling had another chance that was hit over.

Ali went into the ref's book for a late challenge catching Edwards' ankle. Glover made the first save of the game from the head of Sammut after a corner. Sterling got into the area on the left going down when the other Sterling dived in from behind. Both players stayed down for a while before the Chelsea player had to be replaced and the penalty taken. Loft stepped up to fire low inside the left post to put Spurs in front.

Spurs looked the better team at this stage and Hayford fired over from a free kick before he was sent tumbling to the ground in the centre circle. This led to a mass confrontation between the players as the Spurs lads were upset by the challenge. Hayford had to go off with a shoulder injury which looked like a possible dislocation. He was replaced by Marsh for his second game.

Owens conceded a free kick in a dangerous position which Scott kicked over. The last kick of the half was a free kick taken by Owens which was over the bar.

The "Blues" made one change for the second half to boost their attacking threat. However, Spurs started the better with Sterling going clear for a one on one with the keeper with Collins saving with his feet. Sammut was booked for a foul on Marsh before he fired over from an Adamczyk cross.

Sterling then sent Loft away for another one on one with Collins which the keeper again saved with his legs. Spurs replaced Loft with Daly to give more width and pace, but Chelsea began to get into the game. Marsh was booked during a quick break by the home side. From the free kick Boga curled the ball into the right side of the goal to equalise. That was the turning point as the home side raised their game with the goal.

Glover saved another free kick by Boga, conceding a corner. He then saved a header from Ugbo before the Chelsea striker had a chance blocked. Daly broke down the right before his deflected shot was saved by Collins. Roles came off the bench for his first appearance at this level replacing Edwards in midfield.

Chelsea had the bit between their teeth and Ugbo headed down a centre for Mount to fire over. Mount then returned the favour by playing in Ugbo for a chance that was saved. Sammut played in Ugbo for a one on one with Glover. The striker did not miss, and put the home side in front. Glover saved from Mount at full stretch with the resultant corner headed over by Grant. Spurs had a chance to equalise right at the end when Duncan played in Sterling for a chance that was saved by Collins.

It appears that Chelsea now have quality in depth as their U-16 players are better than ours. They have two more years to get better, and as Chelsea top the league now with their current U-18, the situation is not good for the rest of the teams in the league. Both teams are likely to be very different on Thursday at the Lane for the Youth Cup semi-final first leg on Thursday. Spurs have one game left to play before the second phase of the U-18 season which is against Leicester City on the 7th March at Hotspur Way.

Ray

Follow @spursodyssey