Premier U-21 League 2014-15
               Goodison Park, Liverpool
               Monday 18th May 2015, 7pm.

               EVERTON     v     SPURS
            (Blue/White)      (White/Blue)
               4-4-1-1          4-2-3-1

                3(3)              1(0)

           Mateusz Hewelt  1  Luke McGee
          Jonjoe Kenny(C)  2  Christopher Paul
         Antonee Robinson  3  Joseph Muscatt
              Ryan Ledson  4  Aaron McEneff
           Tyias Browning  5  Anton Walkes
          Callum Connolly  6  Alex McQueen
             Joe Williams  7  Kenneth McEvoy
             Gethin Jones  8  Grant Ward
               Chris Long  9  Shaquile Coulthirst(C)
            Kieran Dowell 10  Shayon Harrison
                Sam Byrne 11  Armani Daly

                          12  Zenon Stylianides
                              (11)52Mins
               Conor Hunt 13  Jonathan Miles
               Liam Walsh 14  Cy Goddard
                (4)62Mins     (10)69Mins
            Harry Carsley 15  Charlie Hayford
                (2)85Mins
           Curtis Langton 16  Charlie Owens
                              (3)72Mins
             Antony Evans 17
               (10)66Mins

Scorers:-
           Long 11            Ward 86
           Byrne 26
           Kenny 44

Coaches:-
           D. Unsworth        U. Ehiogu

Attendance:– 203

Referee:– S. Oldham
Assistants:- T. Parsons & M. Rawcliffe
Fourth Official:– J. Moorcroft

It was a chilly evening with dark rain clouds blowing over the ground for the trip to Liverpool for Spurs' last game of the season at Everton. Spurs flew seven of the successful U-19 squad back from Holland where they finished runners-up to Fluminense on Sunday. With nothing to play for, Spurs gave starts to three of those seven, with another three coming on in the second half.

Spurs lined up with McGee in goal behind McQueen and Walkes with Paul at right back and Muscatt on the left. McEneff and Ward played in front of them while Harrison played between McEvoy on the right and Daly on the left in support of Coulthirst up front. I had expected to see a similar formation for the "Toffees" due to the influence of Martinez but Unsworth played two banks of four which were very solid and compact to frustrate Spurs' passing style.

Spurs attacked the Gwladys Street end in the first half and had early chances when Ward and McEvoy fired wide from outside the area. Everton showed how quick they were on the counter as Jones controlled the ball with his hand from a clearance before getting forward and crossing for Long to head wide.

McEvoy got down the right and crossed for Coulthirst to head wide. McGee made the first save of the night getting down to a free kick from Dowell. Byrne played Long through the middle and he was forced wide by McGee, hitting a weak shot which bobbled into the net, wrong-footing Walkes on the line.

Everton were defending well with their two banks of four, preventing Spurs working the ball into the area and forcing them to move the ball square until winning it or forcing an error. McEneff fired in from outside the area forcing a save from Hewelt with the rebound dropping in front of McEvoy. The winger took too long getting in his shot, and that allowed the keeper to recover and block.

Hewelt saved from Ward's long range effort before the home side increased their lead. Again it was from a counter-attack. This time Long picked up a clearance on the right and with Spurs committing players forward his diagonal ball found Byrne on the left with only McQueen to beat. The winger cut inside the defender and beat McGee with a low finish.

Spurs kept plugging away with McEvoy heading over a free kick by Ward. Daly played in Coulthirst for an effort saved for a corner. Coulthirst drew another save when he played a one-two with Harrison. Long was presented with the ball when Paul and McQueen got in each others' way and he had a clear run at McGee who saved well.

Byrne fired wide before McEneff ran onto a through ball to draw a save from Hewelt. Byrne got down the left and crossed for Dowell to force McGee to save. As half-time approached, Everton advanced in numbers and Kenny got forward to receive a diagonal ball. His first attempt was blocked but the ball fell kindly for him to get into the area and he finished well across McGee to put the home side three goals to the good. In added time Coulthirst fired wide.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw an early save by McGee at the far post when Kenny got on the end of a corner. Jones had a chance that was blocked having received the ball in the area.

Spurs made their first change when Stylianides replaced Daly playing alongside McEneff allowing Ward to move forward. Coulthirst moved to the left with Harrison taking his role up front. Ward got into the area but fired wide as Everton began to drop deeper. Paul found room to get forward and draw a save from Hewelt while McEneff fired over seconds later.

Everton began to make changes and Spurs made their second replacing Harrison with Goddard who went to the left side of midfield allowing Coulthirst to return to his starting position. Owens came on soon after in place of Muscatt to anchor the midfield allowing McEneff to drop into the back four with McQueen moving to left back.

Spurs were pushing forward as Everton were retreating with Ward drawing another save from Hewelt. A rare break by Everton saw McGee make a save from Jones header. Spurs continued to press with McEvoy crossing for Ward to head wide. Long drew a save from McGee but most of the play was now in the Everton half. McQueen got down the left and his cross was headed goalwards by Coulthirst but Hewelt was there again.

Spurs finally got on the scoresheet when McQueen squared the ball to Stylianides who slipped it in to Ward to score from 10 yards. McEvoy cut inside but his drive was blocked with the ball falling for Coulthirst but Hewelt saved his effort. With time running out Hewelt saved again from Ward and Walkes fired over in added time.

Spurs continued to try to play passing football against a defence that was set up to stop them and they were not able to change their style of play to counter this. Everton were well drilled and left little room behind for balls over the top. Without the likes of Winks and Onomah, Spurs' passing play was not as sharp or precise and against such a strong defence left them open to the counter. Having reached the top of the league during the season Spurs finished in the bottom half in a season that has been full of highs and lows. It would have been interesting to see how good they could have been if they had played a settled side but with players coming and going out on loan the stability was missing.

Ray

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