Premier U-18 Southern League 2015-16
               Colney Training Centre, Norfolk,
            Saturday 10th October 2015, 12 noon

              NORWICH CITY   v      SPURS
             (Yellow/Green)      (All Purple)
                 4-3-3             4-2-3-1

                  0(0)               3(2)

            Aston Oxborough  1  Brandon Austin
             Emersson Sambu  2  Joseph Muscatt
                  Toby Syme  3  Nicholas Tsaroulla
              Henry Pollock  4  George Marsh
                Owen Wallis  5  Christian Maghoma(C)
            Callum Ellesley  6  Jonathan Dinzeyi
                Jamal Lewis  7  Keanan Bennetts
          Devonte Aransibia  8  Zenon Stylianides
          George Couzens(C)  9  Ryan Loft
             Louis McIntosh 10  Dylan Duncan
               Kofi Boateng 11  Samuel Shashoua

                Tom Walters 12  Tashan Oakley-Boothe
                  (8)46Mins     (11)65Mins
          Fergal Hale-Brown 13  Charlie Freeman
          Benny Ashley-Seal 14  Armani Daly
                  (3)73Mins     (7)65Mins
             Anthony Spyrou 15  Aramide Oteh
                                (4)73Mins
                Bilal Kamal 16
                  (4)83Mins

Scorer:-
                                Loft 15, 42, 76

Coaches:-    
           G. Murty             K. McKenna 

Ref:– M. Russell
Assistants:- C. Saunders & S. Dorrell

Spurs travelled to Norwich on a run of three defeats without some players on International duty. It was good to see Sam Shashoua back from Portugal having helped England U-17 qualify for the Elite round of the European Championship. Norwich were looking to add to their run of two wins that put them two points ahead of Spurs in the table. The weather was not good as it was raining heavily for the first half which made it difficult for me to write notes and the team sheet I was given became a sodden mess before I could put it in my bag. The contents got wet, as the rain soaked through anyway. Last season Spurs ran out 4-2 winners having dominated for most of the game to lead 4-0 before allowing Norwich to get two goals back.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Maghoma and Dinzeyi with Muscatt at right back and Tsaroulla on the left. Marsh anchored the midfield with Stylianides while Duncan played behind Loft up front flanked by Bennetts on his right and Shashoua on his left.

Spurs defended the West end in the first half and had to survive early pressure from the home side which saw a low drive from a corner hit the inside of the near post. The ball rebounded out and was put in by Lewis who was adjudged to have been off side. The wet conditions did not help but Spurs gradually got into the game with good quick passes and intelligent running.

Loft showed some good work with his back to goal bringing in the midfield players. The striker had the first effort on goal that went for a corner as well as playing in Bennetts and Duncan for chances. Loft got the opener when Spurs got down the left and Shashoua crossed to Bennetts at the far post who headed the ball down into the centre where the Spurs striker scored through a mass of legs.

The "Canaries" continued to get forward but all too often played one to many passes around the area allowing the Spurs defence to clear. It remained end to end for most of the first half but the momentum was moving towards the home goal. Loft won the ball in the Norwich half and played a one two with Duncan before flashing a shot just wide. A flowing move ended with a low cross from Shashoua which Loft drilled home for his and Spurs second to go in at half time 2-0.

Norwich made one change for the second half which saw Spurs in control of the midfield pushing the home side back. Boateng fired over from distance while Austin had an easy save from Pollock before Duncan played in Bennetts for a chance that he put wide. Bennetts had a better chance when Spurs broke three on two but again missed the target.

Spurs made a double change taking off both wide players. Daly replaced Bennetts on the right and Oakley-Boothe took over from Shashoua in a deeper position. Daly was soon in action with quick runs down the right and when he cut inside he hit the far post with a thunderous shot. Norwich were relying on Lewis to break out on the right and from one raid the ball was played across field for McIntosh to hit the far post with a low drive.

Spurs made their last change taking off the excellent Marsh for Oteh who played on the left with Oakley-Boothe dropping into the defensive midfield role. Spurs worked the ball down the right with Daly playing the ball inside for Muscatt to cross for Loft to complete his hat-trick. Daly played in Stylianides for a chance that flew wide. Then in the last minute Tsaroulla got to the line and pulled the ball back for Loft to turn and hit. The effort was blocked and then it came back to Stylianides but Oxborough saved his shot and was up quickly to save from Daly following up.

In the first half the rain was the leveller but Spurs' better passing game began to tell and they took control in the second half when the rain stopped. The experienced Maghoma has tightened up the defence while Loft played exceptionally well up front. He has always been a physical presence but his passing and lay off play was very good today. The full backs were able to get forward especially Tsaroulla on the left while the midfield covered the runs. It was a good all round performance from the team. Next week they face another passing team in Swansea at Hotspur Way. Swansea lost 5-0 to Chelsea today. I will not be there as it clashes with the televised Liverpool game but hopefully they can do as well as they did today.

Ray

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