Premier U-18 Southern League 2016-17
          Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
          Saturday 19th November 2016, 11am

               SPURS     v     WEST HAM
            (White/Blue)     (Claret/Blue)
              4-1-4-1           4-2-3-1

                2(1)              1(1)

         Brandon Austin  1  Matthew Trott
            Tariq Hinds  2  Jake Eggleton
     Nicholas Tsaroulla  3  Reece Hannam
           Oliver Skipp  4  Conor Coventry
        Japhet Tanganga  5  Tunji Akinola
       Jonathan Dinzeyi  6  Declan Rice(C)
        Samuel Shashoua  7  Dan Kemp
             Jack Roles  8  Korrey Henry
          Reo Griffiths  9  Jahmal Hector-Ingram
Tashan Oakley-Boothe(C) 10  Anthony Scully
        Keanan Bennetts 11  Rosaire Longelo

      Phoenix Patterson 12  Jeremy Ngakia
             (10)59Mins     (7)64Mins.
         Alfie Whiteman 13  Rihards Matrevics
       Kazaiah Sterling 14  Ben Wells
              (7)72Mins     (2)46Mins
          Timothy Eyoma 15  Bernado Rosa
                            (9)69Mins
                        16  Harry Hudson

Scorers:-
    Roles 21                Hector-Ingram 39
    Sterling (pen)90+3

Booked:-
    Tsaroulla 37(Foul)      Henry 46(Foul)
    Tanganga 49(Foul)
    Skipp 52(Handball)

Coach:-
               N. Gibbs     S. Potts

Referee:– R. Claussen
Assistants:– M. Pond & C. Pullen

It was a cold sunny morning for this London derby at Hotspur Way where the visitors were West Ham United. Spurs' good run had been ended last week with the defeat at home to Reading while the"Hammers" arrived on a four-game unbeaten run that had taken them to second place in the table. The East London side were looking to do the double over Spurs having beaten them 1-0 at the beginning of the season. Last season Spurs were 2-1 winners here having drawn 1-1 at their place.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Tanganga and Dinzeyi with Hinds at right back and Tsaroulla on the left. Skipp anchored the midfield with Roles and Oakley-Boothe ahead of him. They were flanked by Shashoua on the right and Bennetts on the left in support of Griffiths up front.

Spurs defended the South end in the first half of a game that was wide open; end to end; and played at pace. Roles was played in for an early chance that was blocked for a corner. From the corner Trott saved Tanganga's header. Henry played in Hector-Ingram but Austin saved his effort. Spurs took the lead in comedic fashion as Bennetts' ball in from the left was mis-kicked by Trott to Oakley-Boothe on the edge of the area. The keeper came out quickly to clear but mis-kicked again to allow Roles to collect and get into the area before finishing into the far corner of the net.

The game was still end to end with Bennetts drawing a save from Trott. Tsaroulla crossed from the left for Roles to head wide while Longelo played in Kemp for a chance that was blocked seconds later. A low Bennetts cross was just missed by Griffiths before Eggleton crossed for Hector-Ingram to fire over. Tsaroulla was booked for a foul on Henry as he ran through the middle. West Ham were level when Hector-Ingram ran onto a through-ball, slotting in as Austin rushed off his line before the break.

West Ham made one change for the start of the second half which saw Henry booked inside a minute for a foul on Tsaroulla. Soon after that Tanganga went into the book as he stopped Kemp from breaking away. Skipp played in Griffiths for a chance that was saved before he was the third player booked inside the opening ten minutes of the half when he handled a through-ball.

Spurs made their first change when Patterson replaced Oakley-Boothe in midfield. A run and shot by Shashoua was saved by the keeper and Tsaroulla had a run before crossing for Griffiths to hit wide. Spurs' second change saw Shashoua replaced by Sterling who went up front with Griffiths moving to the right.

Tanganga had another header saved at a corner before the visitors had three chances in one attack to shoot with only Hannam firing wide. Coventry got forward to fire over during this period of West Ham pressure before Bennetts crossed for Roles who could not keep the ball down. Roles hit the ball over again when played in by Sterling. Roles repaid the striker by playing him in to draw a save from the keeper.

With a draw looking on the cards Spurs won a penalty when a corner from the left was over-hit and Longelo fouled Griffiths as he challenged for the ball. Sterling stepped up to score to the keeper's left to win the game for Spurs with seconds remaining.

This had been an entertaining game with both sides committed to playing attacking football. It was hard on the visitors to lose at the end as they played their part in the game. Spurs are showing signs of gelling into a good footballing side. Skipp is impressing as a defensive midfielder but players are still looking to make that extra pass when the goal is in front of them. Spurs stay in fifth place but are now on the same number of points as Arsenal. Next week our U-18s travel to Southampton who lost 4-1 to Chelsea today.

Ray

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