Premier U-18 League 2014-15, Play-offs
             Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
              Saturday 18th April 2015, 1pm

                SPURS     v  MANCHESTER CITY
            ( White/Blue)   (All Light Blue)
               4-2-3-1          4-2-3-1

                 4(2)             1(0)

              Harry Voss  1 Joseph Hilton
             Armani Daly  2 Demeaco Duhaney
             Jaden Brown  3 Joseph Coveney
            Anton Walkes  4 Ashley Kibbu
        Christopher Paul  5 Lewis Blackshaw
             Luke Amos(C) 6 Ed Francis
          Marcus Edwards  7 Joe Hardy
           Charlie Owens  8 Tomiwa Dele-Bashiru
         Kaziah Sterling  9 Lukas Nmecha
              Cy Goddard 10 Will Patching
        Anthony Georgiou 11 Luke Bolton

          Joseph Muscatt 12 Mace Goodridge
               (2)61Mins    (9)77Mins
           Thomas Glover 13
       Zenon Stylianides 14 Nosa Iyamu
               (8)51Mins    (7)58Mins
               Ryan Loft 15 Matt Smith
              (11)61Mins    (5)58Mins

Scorers:-
       Sterling 10, 51      Patching 84
       Walkes 39
       Loft 66

Coach:-
       K. McKenna           G. Taylor

The visitors to Hotspur Way today were Manchester City who, because they play Chelsea on Monday in the FA Youth Cup Final, sent an Under-16 side to face Spurs. The two teams have made poor starts to the play-offs with only one point between them. That point was earned by Spurs last week at Everton where they led twice before conceding a late goal after both sides had lost a player. Luke Amos was sent off for holding onto the ball after conceding a free kick which led to a clash with the Everton player. Amos was on the bench yesterday for the U-21's and given the Captain's armband today.

Spurs lined up with Voss behind Paul and Amos at the back with Daly at right back and Brown on the left. Walkes and Owens played in front of them with Goddard behind Sterling up front with Edwards on his right and Georgiou on the left. Georgiou was making his first start since his operation following the Cup win over Manchester United.

It took a while for Spurs to break down the visitors' defence with Georgiou getting down the left and cutting inside only for his effort to be blocked with Owens' follow up also blocked. A minute later, Edwards beat two defenders before playing in Sterling who only had the keeper to beat with a low finish to take the lead.

Five minutes later Georgiou crossed for Sterling inside the six yard box but Kibbu cleared off the line for a corner. Goddard played a one-two before curling the ball to the far post where Walkes' header was cleared off the line. Patching hit his free kick well over the bar with City's first chance. They followed that up with Bolton getting round the back before Voss saved at his near post for a corner. Goddard put in a centre for Owens to head over. Spurs got a second before half-time when Walkes worked his way into the area with a number of one-two exchanges before curling low into the right corner.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Sterling get into the area to the left having his ankle clipped for a penalty. Amos stepped up, hitting his effort to the low to the right but Hilton guessed right and saved. Sterling continued after treatment and was put through on the right by Goddard but chose to lay the ball off with only the keeper to beat.

Voss saved from Dele-Bashiru on the break and then saved from Patching from the resulting corner. Sterling got his second when he received a pass from Edwards scoring inside the left post. Stylianides replaced Owens in midfield before the re-start taking a little while before settling in.

Edwards played in Sterling for a chance that was wide. Both sides made changes with Spurs swapping Daly for Muscatt and Loft coming on for Georgiou. Goddard tried his luck from distance which Hilton saved. The goalkeeper then reacted quickly to save from Sterling who was following up, conceding a corner.

It wasn't long before Spurs made it four when Loft scored at the near post from Edwards' right side corner. Sterling played in Edwards for a chance that was over and Loft turned a corner by Goddard wide of the far post. Stylianides curled in a ball to Sterling, who was attacking the far post. Sterling headed in, but was ruled offside.

Stylianides drew a save from Hilton before Spurs had another goal ruled out. This time Loft was offside converting Edwards cross. City won the ball in the Spurs half and Patching got through to score past Voss to prevent Spurs finishing with a clean sheet. Paul carried the ball out from the back and slipped Edwards in but the England midfielder hit the inside of the near post with his effort and nobody was able to finish it off. The last chance saw Muscatt go down the right, crossing to Loft outside the far post who fired over.

The difference in class showed very early on as Spurs dominated this match from the beginning to end and should have scored more, it was disappointing that they conceded a goal. It was their first win in the play-offs and moves them up a place into sixth. Next week Manchester United are the visitors to Hotspur Way. They were held to a 1-1 draw at Everton today.

Ray

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