Premier U-18 League, South Group, 2017-18
        Hotspur Way, Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield
           Tuesday 24th April 2018, 11am

                SPURS     v    ARSENAL
             (White/Blue)    (Red/White)
               4-1-4-1         4-2-3-1

                 9(3)            0(0)

       Jonathan De Bie(C) 1  Daniel Barden
          Maximus Tainio  2  Harrison Clarke
             Tariq Hinds  3  Tobi Ohole(C)
            Oliver Skipp  4  Matthew Smith
           Timothy Eyoma  5  Mark McGuinness
        Jonathan Dinzeyi  6  Bayli Spencer-Adams
         Dilan Markanday  7  Jay Beckford
            Jamie Bowden  8  Miguel Azeez
           Reo Griffiths  9  Armstrong Okoflex
        Armando Shashoua 10  Jordan McEneff
          Rodel Richards 11  Zak Swanson

            Rayan Clarke 12  Stan Flaherty
              (11)70Mins     (4)62Mins
        Joshua Oluwayemi 13  Arthur Okonkwo
          Elliott Thorpe 14  Ben Cotterill
               (4)70Mins
           Paris Maghoma 15  Mazeed Ogungbo
               (5)75Mins     (3)68Mins
         Jeremie Mukendi 16  Joseph Olowu
                             (11)72Mins

Scorers:-
      Richards 29, 31
      Markanday 33, 55
      Griffiths 48, 68, 71, 88
      Ogungbo 70  o.g.

Booked:-
                             Swanson 67(Foul)

Coach:-
            Scott Parker     Kwame Ampadu

Referee:– Joel Mannix
Assistants:– Russell Jones & Ede Eruero

It was a cool overcast morning for the last game of the season with Arsenal the visitors. Spurs came into the match on the back of a great 3-0 victory at Chelsea while the visitors had a 2-1 victory over Swansea to make sure they finish second behind Chelsea. Last season Arsenal won 4-2 at Hotspur Way and have already inflicted Spurs biggest defeat this season when they won 6-0 at their place. Spurs did field a young team in that game as they played an U-23 game on the same day and the U-19s returned from beating Dortmund 2-1 in Germany. Spurs did knock Arsenal out of the Premier Cup 4-1 in the semi-final.

Spurs lined up with De Bie in goal behind Dinzeyi and Eyoma with Tainio at right back moving Hinds to the left side. Skipp anchored the midfield with Shashoua and Bowden ahead of him. They were flanked by Markanday on the right and Richards on the left in support of Griffiths up front. Arsenal fielded a young side as they have the FA Youth Cup Final first leg on Friday. Their team did include four players from that 6-0 victory. McEneff who they signed last year is the younger brother of Aaron who was in the Spurs Academy a few years ago.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half but soon showed their experience to take control of the game. Barden had to make an early save from Griffiths when he was played through by Markanday. Bowden played in Shashoua for a chance that was deflected wide for a corner. Richards headed over a cross from Tainio before Barden saved from Markanday. Markanday crossed to Richards on the far side and he centred first time for Griffiths to volley in but the joy was short lived as the assistant flagged for offside.

Spurs did not have long to wait as two minutes later Griffiths laid the ball out to Richards who took a touch before curling it inside the far post. After another two minutes Richards got his second. Eyoma saw his header blocked on the line from a right side corner and Richards was quick to score from the rebound.

There was another gap of two minutes before it was 3-0 as Richards was caught late cutting inside but he got the ball off to Griffiths who was also caught but the ball ran into the path of Markanday who drove into the net. Griffiths had a chance when a cross was not dealt with by McGuinness and he tried to chip over the defender and the keeper but Barden saved, holding it at the second attempt. Arsenal won a free kick in the last minute of the half and Azeez clipped the wall with De Bie pushing the ball round his right post.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Griffiths getting onto the scoresheet with the fourth after only three minutes, running onto a ball over the top by Bowden to finish. Smith fired over from range before it was 5-0 to Spurs. Griffiths was played in down the left by Richards and he crossed for Markanday to sweep the ball in from near the penalty spot.

Bowden tried to get in on the scoring but fired over. Arsenal realised the game had gone and began to replace their experienced players. Flaherty, having just come on, got in on the left but his effort was blocked for a corner. From the corner De Bie saved a looping header by Clarke. Ohole got to the line and pulled the ball back but could not connect with either of the two red shirts in the area which led to a loud expletive.

Bowden sent a deep cross to the far post where Shashoua headed against the crossbar and Bowden, following up, was fouled by Swanson tracking back. The player was booked and Griffiths sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot for his second goal and Spurs' sixth.

Swanson tried to make amends by drawing a save from De Bie when sent away by Ogungbo. De Bie quickly set up an attack and the Arsenal defender put through his own goal to prevent Griffiths getting away. It was just his second touch of the ball. Spurs replaced Richards who had a knock with Clarke before the restart which saw Griffiths complete his hat trick heading in at the far post from Bowden's delivery.

With the score at 8-0 Arsenal pushed for a goal with Harrison Clarke firing wide from Okoflex cross for a corner. Okoflex drew a save from De Bie winning a corner from which McEneff had a header cleared off the line. Arsenal did get the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside before McEneff went off leaving the visitors with only ten men having used up their subs. They lost another player before the end which saw Griffiths fire wide before getting his fourth goal when Hinds won the ball in the Arsenal area.

Arsenal could not live with the pace of Spurs and because they were using young players some did not last the game, but it should not take anything away from a very good performance by Spurs. Griffiths finishes as the U-18 top scorer with four goals to add to the three he got in the Cup win over Arsenal. In this topsy turvy season Spurs' biggest win and biggest defeat were against Arsenal who also had their biggest win and greatest defeat against Spurs. The win takes Spurs up to fourth place in the final table having scored 58 goals, the third highest in the Southern League.

John McDermott wants to see the good form continue as they go into the summer and Spurs will be taking part in two tournaments in May. They return to Stemwede in Germany for the Volksbank Cup on the 10th and then to Holland for the Terborg Toernooi on the 25th. I think that may be where I go for my holidays this year.

Ray

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