Premier U-18 Southern League 2016-17
          Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
         Tuesday 7th February 2017, 12 noon

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

              1(1)             1(1)

       Brandon Austin  1  Adam Harrison
          Tariq Hinds  2  George Heaven
          Jaden Brown  3  Calvin Ughelumba
      Moroyin Omolabi  4  Rubyn Gill
   Japhet Tanganga (C) 5  Kyle Gruno
     Jonathan Dinzeyi  6  Cal Templeton
Pablo Gonzalez-Velasco 7  Ethan Hodby
         Dylan Duncan  8  Kieran Dewsbury-Hall
        Reo Griffiths  9  Harrison Myring
     Kazaiah Sterling 10  Morgan Brown
      Samuel Shashoua 11  Tom Fielding

         Matthew Lock 12  Sam Mcleod
            (6)82Mins     (11)58Mins
      Charlie Freeman 13  Cameron Yates
   Nickolas Tsaroulla 14  Conor Tee
            (4)58Mins     (7)82Mins
       Jamie Reynolds 15  Kanya Leshabela
                          (9)29Mins
      Keanan Bennetts 16
            (7)58Mins

Scorers:-
          Griffiths 8     Brown 6

Coach:-
         J. McDermott     T. Peake

Referee:– P. Forrester
Assistants:– M. Ball & J. Casey

It was a sunny if cool morning for the visit of Leicester to Hotspur Way for the re-arranged league fixture that had been moved because of the "Foxes"' Youth Cup game against Middlesbrough which they won 1-0. No doubt that was a tight affair like this match. Spurs of course beat Norwich City in their cup tie. Leicester will play Chelsea in the next round while Spurs travel to Newcastle.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Tanganga and Dinzeyi with Hinds at right back and Brown on the left. Omolabi anchored the midfield in place of Marsh, who played for the U-23 at Anfield. Ahead of him were Duncan and Sterling with Gonzalez-Velasco on the right and Shashoua on the left of what looked like a diamond midfield. They supported Griffiths up front. The experienced Tsaroulla and Bennetts were on the bench.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the South end with the sun in their eyes. The visitors were happy to sit deep and allow the front four to press high up the pitch. This led to the opening goal as Hinds was caught upfield when Ughelumba intercepted a pass and got down the left to cross for Brown to score for the visitors.

Spurs were soon level when Griffiths closed down Harrison and blocked his attempted clearence which went into the net. After that both sides settled into a game of Spurs attacking and Leicester defending.

Leicester did counter when they won the ball and Duncan had to make a saving tackle on Myring for a corner from which Templeton headed wide. Myring had to be replaced just after with a leg injury. Brown got down the left and crossed for Sterling to fire wide. Dinzeyi got forward to recive a ball from Shashoua drawing a save from his long range effort.

Another break saw Leshabela play in Fielding to test Austin in the Spurs goal. Chances were few and it was not until just before the break that Sterling played in Griffiths for a chance that was saved with Shashoua seeing his follow up cleared off the line.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Spurs move to 4-2-3-1. Duncan dropped alongside Omolabi and Sterling moved up front. It was not long before Spurs made a double change with Bennetts replacing Gonzalez-Velasco on the left allowing Shashoua to move to the right side. Tsaroulla replaced Omolabi.

Griffiths played in Sterling but Harrison was out to save with his legs. Sterling reciprocated by playing Griffiths in only for him to fire wide. Bennetts got down the left and crossed for Sterling's looping header to hit the crossbar. The ref kept his cards in his pocket as Leicester defended well keeping Spurs mainly at bay. Spurs' last change was to take off Dinzeyi for Lock who went to right back. Hinds moved to left back so that Brown could move inside to partner Tanganga. Spurs kept pushing but Leicester held them to win a point.

This was not a great game as Spurs were unable to break down a stubborn Leicester but at least they did not succumb to a sucker punch. They did lose the chance to close the gap on Arsenal in fourth place. Spurs travel to Brighton on Saturday having beaten them earlier in the season 4-0.

Ray

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