Premier League 2, Division 1, 2016-17
       Lamex Stadium, Broadhall Way, Stevenage
           Monday 12th December 2016, 7pm

              SPURS     v    DERBY COUNTY
           (White/Blue)      (Green/Blue)
              4-4-2             4-2-3-1

               2(2)               0(0) 

            Pau Lopez   1   Henrich Ravas
   Kyle Walker-Peters   2   Kyron Stabana
       Connor Ogilvie   3   Calum MacDonald
          Luke Amos(C)  4   Timi-Max Elsnik
    Christian Maghoma   5   Farrend Rawson(C)
         Anton Walkes   6   Josh Lelan
     Joseph Pritchard   7   Kellan Gordon
       Thomas Carroll   8   Callum Guy
            Ryan Loft   9   Charles Vernam
      Shayon Harrison  10   Alefe Santos
    Zenon Stylianides  11   Alex Babos

           Cy Goddard  12   Alex Cover
            (7)72Mins       (10)78Mins
        Thomas Glover  13   Josh Barnes
       Joseph Muscatt  14   Emil Jakobsen
           (11)83Mins       (7)68Mins
         Aramide Oteh  15   Lewis Walker
            (9)89Mins       (11)68Mins
                       16   Micah Edwards

Scorers:-
     Walker-Peters 11
     Harrison 24

Booked:-
Stylianides 36(Holding)     Guy 15(Late)
                            Stabana 26(Pull), 28(Pull)

Sent Off:-
                            Stabana 28(2 Yellows)

Coach:-
             U. Ehiogu      D. Wassall

Referee:– D. Treleaven
Assistant:– T. Hancock & M. Holmes
Fourth Official:– S. Cheek

It was a chilly evening with light drizzle for the last U-23 game before the Christmas break. The visitors to Stevenage were fellow strugglers Derby County who had a point more than Spurs at the bottom of the table. Derby had a creditable draw with Liverpool last time out while Spurs drew away to Sunderland. Spurs had beaten Derby 2-1 earlier in the season at their training ground.

Spurs lined up with Lopez in goal behind Maghoma and Walkes with Walker-Peters at right back and Ogilvie on the left. Amos anchored the midfield with Carroll alongside him, Pritchard was on the right flank and Stylianides on the left in support of Harrison and Loft up front.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half but were soon on the attack with Carroll pulling the strings. Harrison played in Pritchard for an early chance that was saved by Ravas. Soon afterwards Stylianides crossed for Harrison to draw a save from his header.

With most players committed forward, Spurs were nearly caught out when a clearance down the left saw Walkes waiting for the ball to bounce only for Vernam to nip in and take it away. However, he fired wide of the far post with only Lopez to beat. Spurs were soon ahead when Walker-Peters carried the ball from his own half and ran at the visitors' defence getting through to fire in a shot. Goalkeeper Ravas got his hands to the shot, but could not stop the ball from going into the net.

Guy was booked for a late lunge at Walker-Peters on the sideline as Spurs continued to get forward at pace. Carroll played in Pritchard but he fired over. Guy won the ball in the middle, firing wide for a corner. Spurs increased their lead when Loft picked up the ball on the right of the area and put it into the six yard box for Harrison to attack. The striker flicked it wide of the keeper into the far corner.

Stabana was booked for pulling back Ogilvie on the left. When Carroll's free kick was only half cleared to Pritchard on the edge of the area he fired over the bar. Ogilvie made another foray forward into the left channel only to be pulled back again by Stabana. The Derby full back was shown a second yellow card followed by a red for the same offence in the space of two minutes. This time the free kick from Carroll was played to the left of the wall for Harrison to force a save from Ravas.

Stylianides was booked for holding Santos who was filling in for Stabana at right back. Gordon saw his effort blocked for a corner before Spurs went close to a third goal. Loft was played in on the right and his shot hit the near post. Pritchard followed up and hit the crossbar with Ogilvie heading the rebound wide. In the last minute Carroll had an effort saved with the ball played downfield for Babos to fire over seconds later.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Derby form two banks of four to keep out Spurs. It worked fairly well forcing Spurs to take shots from distance. Loft played in Harrison for a chance that went for a corner. Carroll drew a save from distance and followed that with a screamer that was just wide of the far post.

Babos fired wide at the other end on the break. Harrison saw his effort saved from the left with Loft following up to put the ball into the net only for it to be ruled out for offside. Harrison drew a save from a cross by Ogilvie and Pritchard fired wide before Derby made changes.

Walker-Peters got down the right, crossing to the far post for Ogilvie to force a save from the keeper. Spurs made their first change with Goddard coming on for Pritchard with Stylianides switching to the right. Carroll drew saves from another two long range efforts while Stylianides fired wide. Vernam also fired wide before Spurs made their second change with Muscatt replacing Stylianides on the right.

Having contained Spurs "The Rams" went on the attack in the final ten minutes with Elsnik winning a corner. Oteh came on in place of Loft in the dying minutes which saw Carroll fire over before the final whistle.

This was a good performance from Spurs even before Derby were reduced to ten men. The formation saw Spurs continually put the visitors defence under pressure with players getting through the back line. Derby tightened up in the second half to keep Spurs at bay forcing them to play in front of their defence. The win moves Spurs two places off the bottom going into the New year. Spurs face Chelsea at Hotspur Way on the 6th January.

Ray

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