Premier U-18 Southern League 2014-15
            Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
            Saturday 7th March 2015, 12 noon

                 SPURS     v     LEICESTER
             (White/Blue)      (Blue/White)
                 4-3-3             4-3-3

                  2(0)              0(0)

            Thomas Glover  1  Max Bramley
      Christopher Paul(C)  2  Darnell Johnson
           Joseph Muscatt  3  Elliot Percival
          Charlie Hayford  4  Matt Miles
          Japhet Tanganga  5  Elliott Moore(C)
              Jaden Brown  6  Josh Knight
              Armani Daly  7  Kyle Bailey
               Lloyd Ross  8  Toby Fura
                Ryan Loft  9  Kairo Mitchell
           Marcus Edwards 10  Admiral Muskwe
         Kazaiah Sterling 11  Brandon Fox

       Nicholas Tsaroulla 12  Cedric Kipre
                (4)61Mins     (5)46Mins
           Alfie Whiteman 13  Max Smith-Varnam
             Dylan Duncan 14  Lamine Sherif
                (7)73Mins     (4)46Mins
          Keanan Bennetts 15  Hamza Choudhury
               (11)67Mins
             Anton Walkes 16  Layton Ndukwu

Scorers:-
          Loft, (pen)79
          Paul, 90+1

Booked:-
          Brown 80(Holding)   Mitchell 22(Foul)
   Tanganga 89(Obstruction)   Johnson 78(Foul)

Sent off:-
                              Sherif 73(Foul) 

Coach:-
          K. McKenna          T. Peake

Referee:– A. Coleman

It was a sunny morning but chilled with a strong wind for Spurs' last game in the first phase of this season's competition. A win for Spurs would move them above Aston Villa into second place while the visitors needed a win to keep in contention for a top four finish with one game to go. That game would be against Villa. Spurs lost their last game away to Chelsea 2-0 while City lost to the gooners 5-3.

Spurs lined up with Glover in goal behind Brown and Tanganga with Paul at right back and Muscatt on the left. Hayford anchored the midfield with Ross and Edwards while Loft led the line with Daly to his right and Sterling on his left. A young bench included Tsaroulla for his first appearance.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the West end against the strong wind. While a win would be good for Spurs they did not play well in the first half of a game which meant more to the visitors who were fully committed – too committed at times for the home support. Glover made an early save from Muskwe before Daly found Loft from the right but his effort was blocked. Mitchell was booked for a late tackle chasing the ball.

Muskwe fired wide before a quick break started by Muscatt ended with Loft hitting the left post from an offside position. Glover saved a header by Moore from a free kick while Paul got down the right, crossing for Loft to draw a save from Bramley. Loft followed that with an effort wide before Fox fired wide for the "Foxes". The last chance went to the visitors when Miles hit a free kick over the bar.

Leicester made two changes for the second half as they continued to push hard. They won a penalty seven minutes into the half when Muskwe was fouled. Glover guessed right by diving to his left to save. Mitchell drove wide as Spurs began to get their game going. Muscatt got down the left and put in a dangerous cross through the six yard box.

Tsaroulla replaced Hayford, taking up the left back position, with Muscatt switching to right back and Paul taking up the defensive midfield position. Muscatt headed wide at a corner before Spurs made their second cahnge with Bennetts replacing Sterling. Bennetts quickly made his presence felt, firing wide from an Edwards through ball.

Sherif committed a bad foul on Tsaroulla and was shown the red card by the referee who had let a lot go during the game. Thus the visitors were reduced to ten men.

Daly was replaced by Duncan, after he began limping. Spurs sought to take advantage of the extra man. Spurs won a penalty of their own when an over-hit centre reached Tsaroulla on the left and as he got round the back he was taken out by Darnell who was booked for the challenge. Loft stepped up to score to the keeper's right.

Leicester did not give up and Brown was booked for holding as Muskwne tried to get away down the right. Glover saved from Knight following a free kick. Brown then played his partner into trouble. Tanganaga had to grab the Leicester striker to prevent him getting away with the ball, and also had his name taken by the referee.

Spurs made the game safe in added time following a good run by Edwards on the right. He got to the near post and lifted the ball into the middle where Bramley failed to deal with it under pressure from Loft and Paul. The ball was not cleared and Paul got it in with his second effort.

It was not a great game of football with Spurs not looking fully committed with nothing to play for while Leicester committed themselves totally which should have resulted in a different score-line. If they had scored from the spot then it could have been different, but Spurs raised their game enough to win. Glover is making a habit of saving penalties and Paul had what must have been his best game for Spurs.

The win moved Spurs to second place on goal difference over Villa who still have a game to play. That game will be against today's visitors Leicester who have to play Manchester City in the Youth Cup before they meet. The likelihood is that Villa will get the point they need to finish second. The importance of that is they will have four home games in the next phase while Spurs will have three in the seven games to play.

Ray

Follow @spursodyssey