Premier U-18 Southern League 2016-17
          Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
         Saturday 29th October 2016, 11.30am

             SPURS     v  BRIGHTON & H A
         (White/Blue)      (Lime/Black)
            4-1-4-1          4-2-3-1

              4(4)             0(0)

       Alfie Whiteman  1   Bailey Vose
         Matthew Lock  2   Owen Moore
   Nicholas Tsaroulla  3   Rian O'Sullivan
         Oliver Skipp  4   Alex Cochrane
     George Marsh (C)  5   Jamal Balogun
      Japhet Tanganga  6   Danny Barker(C)
      Samuel Shashoua  7   Isaac Hutchinson
         Dylan Duncan  8   Archie Davies
     Kazaiah Sterling  9   Aaron Connelly
           Jack Roles 10   Danny Mandroiu
    Phoenix Patterson 11   Reece Meekums

     Jonathan Dinzeyi 12   Hamish Morrison
            (9)46Mins
      Charlie Freeman 13   George Bentley
          Jaden Brown 14   Tyrese Fornam
            (2)63Mins      (8)68Mins
       Jamie Reynolds 15   Charlie Ferguson
           (10)66Mins      (7)46Mins
                      16   Stephan Ljubicic
                           (11)24Mins

Scorers:-
      Duncan 9
      Shashoua 24, 45
      Tanganga 40

Coach:-
              N. Gibb      I. Buckman

Referee:– J. Packman
Assistants:– C. Acton & R. Albert

It was an overcast morning for the visit of lowly Brighton and Hove Albion. Brighton drew their match with Fulham 1-1 last week as Spurs were also held 1-1 by Chelsea. Last season Spurs won this fixture 5-1 with Shashoua scoring, havimng come off the bench, in the dying minutes.

Spurs lined up with Whiteman in goal behind Marsh and Tanganga with Lock at right back and Tsaroulla on the left. Skipp anchored the midfield with Duncan and Roles ahead of him. They were flanked by Shashoua on the right and Patterson on the left in support of Sterling up front. With the UEFA Youth League game on Wednesday there was a short bench, and Spurs were relying upon the younger players on the field. Brighton wore dayglow lime green shirts which certainly made them stand out.

Spurs defended the South end in the first half but imposed themselves on the visitors, putting them under pressure from the off. Tanganga fired over from a corner before Spurs took the lead when Sterling got down the left and crossed for Duncan who was surrounded on the penalty spot. The midfielder was still able to turn and find the net.

Tsaroulla got down the left and whipped in a cross which was met by Roles with a late run. However, he put the shot wide of the far post. Again from the left Patterson crossed but this time Roles failed to reach it. As the Brighton defence failed to clear the ball, Sterling drew a save from Vose. Marsh hit a long ball which was headed on by Duncan for Roles whose effort was cleared off the line.

The second goal was not long in coming as Shashoua made a run in off the right finishing with a well struck shot into the far side of the net. The "Seagulls" had to replace one of their attacking players with a very tall striker in Ljubicic who led the line. His presence saw Hutchinson have an effort blocked. Roles had an effort saved from another Patterson cross before Spurs increased their lead. It came from a corner that Shashoua took short playing a one two before flighting it to the far post for Tanganga to head in.

Mandroiu hit a free kick over the bar before Shashoua showed him how to take a free kick when in the last minute of the half he curled one over the wall into the near corner for his second and Spurs fourth.

Spurs made one change for the start of the second half with Dinzeyi replacing Sterling. He went into the back four to combat the height of Ljubicic. Marsh moved to anchor the midfield. It was not obvious who was now leading the line. From an early corner that was half cleared Skipp hit a volley just wide. Shashoua fired wide before Mandroiu saw his effort go wide for a corner. Whiteman made a good save diving to his right from a Cochrane strong shot.

Vose made a save from a Roles free kick and followed that with a save from Duncan. Whiteman saved from Connelly with Davies heading over from the resultant corner. He had an easier save from Mandroiu who headed on a free kick. Spurs next change was Brown replacing Lock with the defender going to left back allowing Tsaroulla to move to left midfield and Patterson going to right back. That was soon followed by Reynolds coming on for Duncan in midfield.

Ljubicic fired over when he was played in by Connelly. Spurs had a chance to make it five when Tsaroulla got round the back and whipped in a cross that Skipp failed to reach. The last chance of the game fell to Reynolds who saw his effort deflected for a corner.

This was a comfortable win for Spurs and moved them up to fifth in the table. They showed great pace and good movement. Sterling showed he was getting better and Shashoua was a tricky wideman. I do hope Marsh has a growth spurt as playing at the back he does give away a lot of height despite being a good jumper. Patterson and Lock do look like good prospects as well. Next Saturday Spurs travel to Fulham who beat Southampton 3-0 today. Before that Spurs have an U-19 game against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.

Ray

Follow @spursodyssey