Premier U-18 Southern League 2016-17
         Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
        Saturday 17th September 2016, 12 noon

              SPURS      v     NORWICH
           (White/Blue)     (Yellow/Green)
             4-2-3-1           4-2-3-1

               2(1)              2(1)

      Brandon Austin     1     Fergal Hale-Brown
        Matthew Lock     2     Max Aarons
  Nicholas Tsaroulla     3     Toby Syme
        Oliver Skipp     4     Henry Pollock
    George Marsh (C)     5     Callum Ellesley
    Jonathan Dinzeyi     6     Owen Wallis(C)
     Samual Shashoua     7     Anthony Spyrou
          Jack Roles     8     Alfie Payne
        Aramide Oteh     9     Alan Fleming
        Dylan Duncan    10     Devonte Aransiba
     Keanan Bennetts    11     Bilal Kamal

     Japhet Tanganga    12     Bradley Catton
           (2)71Mins           (10)60Mins
     Charlie Freeman    13     Ryan Dickerson
     Moroyin Omolabi    14     Aaron Eknmah
           (8)87Mins           (5)83Mins
      Jamie Reynolds    15     Jaden Brissett
          (11)78Mins           (2)90Mins

Scorers:-
             Oteh 20           Kamal 19, 85
            Roles 69

Coach:-
        J. McDermott 

Referee:– C. Francis

After their European tie on Wednesday it was back to league action for Spurs' youngsters with Norwich City the visitors. The "Canaries", like Spurs, have been big scorers so far this season having put six past Swansea in their opening game and more importantly five past Chelsea in a nine goal thriller last Saturday. Spurs lost last Saturday 4-3 at Reading. Last season Spurs won this corresponding game 1-0, thanks to a penalty by Loft.

Spurs made wholesale changes to the side that lost to Monaco with Marsh and Shashoua remaining. Austin was in goal behind Marsh and Dinzeyi with a first appearance for Lock at right back and Tsaroulla on the left. Skipp anchored the midfield with Roles alongside him and Duncan ahead, flanked by Shashoua on the right and Bennetts on the left in support of Oteh up front.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the South end in what was an open attacking game which favoured the home side. The first chance fell to the visitors when Ellesley headed wide at a corner. Spurs' first chance saw a Shashoua effort blocked for a corner. When the corner was not cleared, Hale-Brown saved from Duncan. This precipitated a spate of corners for Spurs with Denzeyi having his header deflected for another being the best result.

Spurs fell behind when Spyrou got behind Lock on the right and crossed for Kamal to convert. Less than a minute later, Spurs were level. Having attacked down the left the ball found its way to Lock on the right. He put the ball in low to the far post where the keeper failed to deal with it, allowing Oteh to tap in. Spurs kept the pressure on with Roles' effort deflected for a corner having made a good run. Duncan played in Shashoua for a chance that was saved. Roles got the ball in the net following up a save from Dinzeyi but it was ruled offside. Bennetts put in a good cross but Skipp put it over the bar and as the half neared its end Shashoua had another effort blocked.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw an early chance for Aarons fly wide. Spurs began to push Norwich back into their own half with Duncan drawing a save. Roles played in Tsaroulla down the left but his effort was blocked. Skipp saw his effort blocked before Shashoua fired wide. A cross from Spyrou was headed over by Fleming before Bennetts saw his shot deflected for a corner from which Skipp had a chance that was saved.

Another break saw Kamal draw a save from Austin before Spurs took the lead. Shashoua whipped the ball in and Roles snapped up the chance after it was deflected to him. Spurs made their first change with Tanganga replacing Lock at right back. Shashoua played a short corner on the right and hit the return wide of the far post. Bennetts saw his effort saved for a corner. From the corner Tanganga forced a save from the keeper and Duncan hit the bar with the follow up.

Reynolds replaced Bennetts on the left and Ellesley went off injured before Norwich grabbed an equaliser. Fleming laid the ball back for Kamal to hit a lovely dipping volley over Austin. Spurs made their last change replacing Roles with Omolabi who had a chance from Reynolds' cross which he put over the bar. Spurs could not get that winning goal and the last chance of the game fell to Norwich when Fleming fired wide.

This had been a good open attacking game of football with Spurs having the better of it, but they could not convert the chances made. Spurs have usually got the better of matches between the two but had to settle for a draw to the best goal of the game. Young Lock had a good game at right back against a taller opponent in Spyrou and Skipp improved on his last appearance. Another player giving away a height advantage was Marsh in the back four but he did not let that get in the way of a good overall performance.

Next week Spurs travel to Swansea looking for their first away win of the season. The "Swans" lost today and will be looking for their first win of the season.

Ray

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