Premier U-18 League, Southern League 2017-18
               Bell Lane, London Colney
           Saturday25th November 2017, 11am

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

                 6(4)           0(0)

           Joao Virginia  1  Jonathan De Bie(C)
   Vontae Daley-Campbell  2  Tariq Hinds
        Dominic Thompson  3  Brooklyn Lyons-Foster
             Josh Benson  4  Paris Maghoma
          Danny Ballard(C)5  Maxwell Staham
              Tobi Omole  6  Malachi Walcott
          Xavier Amaechi  7  Rayan Clarke
           Matthew Smith  8  Phoenix Patterson
              Trae Coyle  9  Reo Griffiths
           Robbie Burton 10  Jamie Reynolds
             Bakayo Sako 11  J'neill Lloyd-Bennett

         Harrison Clarke 12  Maurizio Pochettino
              (10)73Mins     (6)46Mins
           Daniel Barden 13  Joshua Oluwayemi
          James Olayinka 14  Armando Shashoua
                             (7)46Mins
     Bayli Spencer-Adams 15  Rodel Richards
               (6)73Mins     (11)57Mins
            Jay Beckford 16  Jamie Bowden
              (11)75Mins

Scorers:-
        Sako 17, 39
        Coyle 26
        Amaechi 31, 68
        Smith 49

Booked:-
        Burton 45(UGC)       Maghoma 45(UGC)
                             Pochettino 58(Handball)

Coaches:-
          Kwarme Ampadu      Scott Parker

Referee:– Jon Burridge 

Spurs travelled to Arsenal's training ground on a bright chilly morning with a troublesome cross wind for the U-18 North London Derby. Both sides were back to winning ways in their last games with the home side beating Norwich 1-0 and Spurs getting a 5-2 victory at Swansea. Last season Spurs won 2-1 at the end of the season with the sides in similar positions. Last season the original game was called off due to a frozen pitch with the gooners due to play in midweek but the pitch was playable today on a cold morning – they must have remembered to put on the under soil heating.

Spurs lined up with De Bie in goal behind young Statham and Walcott with Hinds at right back and Lyons-Foster on the left. Maghoma anchored the midfield with Reynolds and Patterson ahead of him flanked by Clarke on the right and a first start for Lloyd-Bennett on the left in support of Griffiths up front. Lyons-Foster and Maghoma started in Germany while another six youngsters were on the bench.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the South end with the low sun in their eyes. They were put under pressure by the home side who attacked at pace and defended stongly with a couple of Spurs players needing treatment for knocks. Smith got through early to fire wide before the pressure told on the Spurs defence when a poor back pass was pounced on by Amaechi to play in Sako at the far post to score.

Sako had another chance at the far post which De Bie saved but Coyle was on hand to put in the loose ball for 2-0. It was soon three when Burton sent Amaechi away to score at the near post. Amaechi had another effort blocked for a corner as Arsenal kept the pressure on. Sako got his second when he ran onto a cross field ball from Daley-Campbell.

Griffiths got down the right and hit the woodwork from a tight angle and Spurs drew a save when Lyons-Foster got down the left and played in Reynolds for a chance. The half ended on a sour note when Maghoma reacted to a challenge by Burton which saw both players booked.

Spurs made two changes for the second half with Shashoua coming on for Clarke in centre midfield with Patterson moving to the right and Pochettino coming on for Walcott to sit in front of the back four. Lyons-Foster moved inside to partner Statham with Reynolds dropping to left back. They did not have time to settle into the new changes before the home side scored again when Smith got behind on the right to draw De Bie and score inside the far post.

Coyle ran through to draw a save from De Bie at his near post and saw his follow-up cleared off the line by Statham. Ballard had two headers saved, the first from a corner before Spurs made their last change which saw Richards come on for Lloyd-Bennett. Maghoma played in Griffiths for a chance that was saved before Pochettino slipped when on the ball and used his hand to prevent Coyle getting it. The ref gave a free kick but then after talking with the Arsenal striker showed the Spurs man the yellow card.

Maghoma drew a save before the ball was quickly moved upfield for Benson to play in Amaechi to score number six. That was enough for the home side as after Coyle fired wide they began to make changes and see out the game. This allowed Spurs more possession and Richards fired wide when Maghoma played him through and Hinds played in Patterson to fire over. Beckford played the ball back to Virginia who picked it up to concede a free kick after protests from Spurs players. The kick was inside the six yard box on the right so Maghoma tapped it sideways for Shashoua to hit but it was cleared off the line. In the last minute Maghoma drew a save and on the counter Amaechi hit the bar.

Spurs were out-played by a strong well-organised side who moved up to third. Spurs missed a defensive midfielder such as Skipp who played in the U-23 game on the same day (in Manchester) which has obviously stretched the resources of the club. Neither Maghoma or Pochettino could do the job against the gooners when it may have needed two in there. Arsenal (not being in the Champions League) did not play in mid-week like Spurs and took advantage of the opportunity. The only player who impressed on the day was Shashoua, who like his older brother is a tigerish battling midfielder. Next week the last group game in the Premier League Cup sees Aston Villa visit Hotspur Way. Spurs need a win to have a chance to progress to the knockout stage, but have a bad recent record against the"Villans".

Ray

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