FA Youth Cup, Round 3, 2016-17
   Lamex Stadium, Broadhall Way, Stevenage
      Wednesday 30th November 2016, 7pm

           SPURS    v    STEVENAGE
        (All White)     (All Blue)
          4-1-4-1          4-4-2

           10(3)           1(0)

   Jonathan De Bie  1  Neal Osborn
     Timothy Eyoma  2  Macsen Fraser
Nicholas Tsaroulla  3  Ben Wilmot
      Oliver Skipp  4  Ali Omar
   George Marsh(C)  5  Charley O'Keefe
   Japhet Tanganga  6  Liam Brady
   Samuel Shashoua  7  Andronicos Georgiou
        Jack Roles  8  Zak Guerfi(C)
  Kazaiah Sterling  9  Mick Cregan
      Dylan Duncan 10  Claudio Ofuso
   Keanan Bennetts 11  David Etheridge

  Jonathan Dinzeyi 12  Jacob Croud
         (4)68Mins     (7)65Mins
   Charlie Freeman 13  Charlie Milton
     Reo Griffiths 14  Sam Dowridge
         (9)76Mins
       Jaden Brown 15  Alex Taylor
         (3)74Mins     (6)74Mins
       Tariq Hinds 16  Arthur Iontion
                       (11)60Mins

Scorers:-
Sterling 1, 10, 41     Wilmot 84
Tanganga 68, 62
Eyoma 65
Brown 76
Shashoua 86, 90+1
Roles 89

Booked:-
    Duncan 78(Late)    Brady 29(Foul)

Coach:-
    J. McDermott       S. Payne

Attendance:- 897

Referee:– R. Cox
Assistants:– B. Haden & T. Green
Fourth Official:– J. Aldous

Spurs were drawn at home to Stevenage Borough in the third round of the Youth Cup. This is when the top teams such as Spurs enter the competition, whilst Stevenage qualified for this stage after beating Charlton Athletic 2-0 in the second round. Because Spurs listed Stevenage as the ground for their home matches Stevenage were playing as the away side on their own pitch.

Spurs lined up with De Bie in goal behind Marsh and Tanganga with Eyoma at right back and Tsaroulla on the left. Skipp anchored the midfield with Role and Duncan ahead of him flanked by Shashoua on the right and Bennetts on the left in support of Sterling up front.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the South end, which they did at pace. In the first minute Duncan made a run through the left channel playing in Sterling to score. Etheridge had an effort from distance that flew wide. Bennetts crossed for Roles who had two attempts at goal that were both blocked. Marsh had a header cleared off the line from a free kick before Ofuso fired wide.

Sterling got his second goal running onto a through ball by Roles pushing the ball one side and going the other round the keeper to finish. The striker had an identical chance a little later but having pushed the ball past the keeper it was cleared by a defender. A cross from Bennetts to Sterling drew a save from Osborn. Duncan followed up and saw his effort blocked.

Another cross from Bennetts was fired wide by Roles. O'Keefe was booked stopping a break away from a Stevenage set piece. Sterling headed wide from another Bennetts cross before he completed his hat-trick. A string of passes worked the ball through the Stevenage defence with Shashoua and Bennetts to the fore. Bennetts moved the ball from the left into the path of the Spurs striker (Sterling) to finish. Tsaroulla ended a fine run with a shot bringing a save from Osborn in the last minute of the half.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Spurs continue to go forward. Roles had a header saved from a Tsaroulla cross before Duncan fired wide. Ofuso fired over before Sterling won a corner from a Shashoua pass. From the corner, taken short, Tanganga headed powerfully home at the far post.

Cregan played in Etheridge for a chance that he hit over before he was replaced. Shashoua was fouled on the edge of the left side of the area and he took the free kick himself flighting the ball to the far post where Tanganga headed it in on the line. Georgiou fired wide for Stevenage before Eyoma scored at the near post on Spurs next attack.

Skipp was replaced by Dinzeyi who went into the back four allowing Marsh to move into midfield. Brown replaced Tsaroulla at left back and got on the scoresheet when Spurs broke from a free kick with Marsh sending Shashoua away down the left. Shashoua's ball into the middle saw the full back beat Osborn to it and score.

Sterling gave way to Griffiths before Duncan was booked for a late challenge in the middle of the park. Shashoua played a one-two with Duncan before firing wide of the far post. Stevenage pulled a goal back when Cregan picked up a loose ball from a corner. De Bie saved at the near post with the Stevenage striker chipping the rebound back into the goalmouth for Wilmot to score with his back to goal. The visitors' joy did not last long as Bennetts played in Shashoua to rifle his effort in to the far corner for 8-1.

When Griffiths was fouled just outside the area Shashoua stepped up to hit the free kick just wide. It was nine when Roles converted Bennetts' cross a minute from the end of normal time. After a minute into added time Shashoua made it ten with his second firing home inside the left post.

Spurs outplayed Stevenage from the off and could have been more than three goals ahead at half-time. Stevenage became more physical in the second half winning more of the ball but could not stop the better finishing of Spurs. Shashoua should have also had a hat-trick if Tanganga hadn't got to his free kick on the line. Spurs were just too quick for the opposition getting to the ball first and running away from their markers. Bennetts continually got to the line putting balls into the danger area for his team-mates. It was a good team performance to see them through to the next round.

Ray

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