Premier League 2, Division  1, 2017-18
         Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
          Monday 21st August 2017, 12 noon

              SPURS     v  WEST HAM UTD
          (White/Blue)     (All Black)
             4-1-4-1         4-2-3-1

               2(2)            3(0)

       Brandon Austin   1  Nathan Trott
        Timothy Eyoma   2  Alex Pike
      Keanan Bennetts   3  Vashon Neufville
         Oliver Skipp   4  Moses Makasi(C)
      Japhet Tanganga   5  Olatunji Akinola
          Jaden Brown   6  Joshua Pask
       Marcus Edwards   7  Dan Kemp
         Dylan Duncan   8  Jos Powell
        Shilow Tracey   9  Antonio Martinez
    Joseph Prichard(C) 10  Martin Samuelsen
       William Miller  11  Nathan Holland

      Samuel Shashoua  12  Grady Diangana
            (8)73Mins      (19)46Mins
        Luke O'Reilly  13  Rihards Matrevics
     Kazaiah Sterling  14  Jahmal Hector-Ingram
            (9)78Mins      (7)84Mins
            Ryan Loft  15  Anthony Scully
           (11)58Mins
     Jonathan Dinzeyi  16  Noha Sylvestre

Scorers:-
       Duncan 32           Kemp 49
       Edwards 44 (pen)    Holland 55
                           Akinola 63

Booked:-
       Skipp 79(Late)      Martinez 70(Late)

Coach:-
       Wayne Burnett       Terry Westley

Referee:– David Rock
Assistants:– Dean Skipper & Dele Sotimirin
Fourth Official:– Christopher Bodell

It was a rainy morning for Spurs' (PL2 team) first home game of the season which was a London derby against West Ham. Spurs lost their opening game at Sunderland 2-1 while the "Hammers" held last season's champions to a goal-less draw. Both sides had many of last season's U-18 players who played in a game that Spurs won 2-1. West Ham were promoted from Division 2 so the teams did not meet last season at this level.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Tanganga and Brown with Eyoma at right back and Bennetts on the left. Skipp anchored the midfield with Pritchard and Duncan ahead of him flanked by Edwards on the right and Miller on the left in support of Tracey up front. Dinzeyi, who played for the Academy on Saturday, was on the bench. West Ham included Samuelsen and Martinez who both had successful loan spells last season at Peterborough and Oxford United respectfully before helping the"Hammers"' PL2 side to promotion.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half which saw both sides looking to play the ball about and a midfield battle developed. Martinez had an early chance blocked while Pritchard fired wide. Edwards played in Tracey for a run on goal with Akinola making a saving tackle as Tracey was about to pull the trigger. Martinez drew a save, winning a corner. Edwards won a corner from which Skipp drove wide when Bennetts pulled the ball back.

Spurs took the lead with a well worked goal that began with a long ball from Skipp to Miller on the left who crossed for Tracey. The ball arrived behind the striker so he laid it off for Duncan to score.

Pask headed wide from a free kick before Edwards' run ended with his effort deflected for a corner. Edwards' running was causing problems and when he ran onto a diagonal ball played across the area Akinola caught him. To his credit Edwards tried to remain on his feet but when he went down the referee awarded a penalty. Edwards sent Trott the wrong way placing the ball to the keeper's right to double the home side's lead. Bennetts whipped in a cross from the left that Tracey just failed to reach at the far post. The half ended with Trott saving from Pritchard.

West Ham made a change for the start of the second half which saw Pritchard going clear on the left but firing wide of the far post in the opening minute. Martinez headed wide from a corner as the visitors pushed forward. Neufville got down the left and whipped in a cross, and Kemp slid in to score at the far post to pull the visitors back into the game.

West Ham now stepped up a gear and Diangana laid the ball out to the left where Holland turned back before curling a lovely effort into the far side of the goal for the equaliser.

Miller had to go off having not recovered from a high foot by Kemp to be replaced by Loft who went up front with Tracey moving to the left. Pritchard fired wide as Spurs tried to regain the initative and Edwards fired over when played in by Tracey. West Ham took the lead when Spurs failed to clear a corner from the right. Neufville crossed from the left and Kemp headed back into the middle where Akinola drove home.

Edwards played in Tracey whose effort went for a corner. Martinez went down clutching his leg, looking for a foul which was not given, so he jumped up and chased down first Austin and then Tanganga, getting booked by the referee for going in late on the Spurs defender. Tracey played in Edwards who made space for a shot that was saved.

Spurs made their second change replacing Duncan with Shashoua. Skipp dived in as Akinola played the ball to earn a booking. Kemp and Pike combined on the right with Austin saving the full back's effort. Spurs' last change saw Sterling replacing Tracey on the left. Diangana fired over before Shashoua's deep cross was headed by Skipp and cleared off the line. Seconds later, Holland was going down the left bringing a save from Austin. Loft hit an early long range effort that went for a corner as West Ham held out for the three points.

This had been an evenly fought match with Spurs managing to take a two goal lead. West Ham turned it around with three goals in a fifteen minute spell and finished the stronger. Spurs missed a couple of good chances which could have given them at least a point, but too many mistakes affected the flow of their passing game. Martinez was a handful up front for the visitors and looks like a good buy and close to a first team appearance if the “little pea” gets injured. I can't say that any of the Spurs players are close to the first team. Spurs will have to regroup quickly as they have to play Manchester United on Friday evening at Stevenage. United beat Leicester City 1-0 away in their opening game last week.

Ray

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