Premier U-18 League, Southern League 2017-18
       The Amex Training Ground, Lancing, Sussex
          Saturday 20th January 2018, 11.15am

               BRIGHTON    v     SPURS
             (Blue/White)    (All Navy Blue)
                4-4-1-1         4-1-4-1

                 3(2)             6(2)

          Thomas McGill(C) 1  Brandon Austin(C)
         Hamish Morrison   2  Maxwell Statham
          Hayden Roberts   3  Jamie Reynolds
            Tareq Shihab   4  Tariq Hinds
          Matthew Weaire   5  Jonathan Dinzeyi
          Ben Clark-Eden   6  Brooklyn Lyons-Foster
             Jayden Onen   7  Jeremie Mukendi
           Alex Cochrane   8  Armando Shashoua
         Stefan Ljubicic   9  Reo Griffiths
           Danny Cashman  10  Pheonix Patterson
            Ryan Longman  11  Rodel Richards

            Mamadou Kone  12  Matthew Lock
               (5)68Mins      (5)63Mins
          George Bentley  13  Lo-Tutala
            Cameron Tutt  14  Jubril Okendia
                              (7)83Mins
           Columbus Ibeh  15  Elliott Thorpe
              (10)87Mins      (9)83Mins
           Tyrese Fornah  16
               (7)68Mins

Scorers:-
          Longman 22, 70      Richards 18
          Ljubicic 39         Patterson 30, 62, 78
                              Griffiths 50, 59

Booked:-
          Cochrane 23(Foul)   Lyons-Foster 86(Late)
          Shihab 53(Late)

Coaches:-
          Mark Beard          Scott Parker

Referee:– Joseph Stokes 

Spurs travelled to Brighton in good form, having beaten Liverpool 4-0 and Bournemouth 3-0 in Cup ties but have been held to two 4-4 draws in the league. We certainly have a team full of goals. Brighton had lost 5-0 to Newcastle in the Youth Cup but beat Blackburn 4-2 in the Premier League Cup since losing to south coast rivals Southampton 1-0 in the League. Last season Brighton beat Spurs 2-1 and they also won earlier in the season 1-0 at Hotspur Way with a strong defensive performance.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Dinzeyi and Lyons-Foster with Statham at right back and Reynolds on the left. Hinds anchored the midfield with Shashoua and Patterson ahead of him flanked by Mukendi on the right and Richards on the left in support of Griffiths up front. There was a young bench as players were rested from the mid-week win at Bournemouth and a trip to Qatar.

Spurs defended the South end in the first half but soon had the home side on the back foot as they played quick passing football and long balls over the top with the first chance falling to Hinds up in support drawing a save from McGill from a pass by Richards. It was Richards who got the opening goal when he fired in from a pull-back by Patterson. The lead did not last long as Longman picked up a half-clearance on the left coming inside to curl the ball inside the far post.

Cochrane went into the ref's book as he halted Hinds' run through the middle. Another foul saw Patterson score from the free kick. McGill got a hand to the ball, but could not stop Spurs going in front again. Brighton found another equaliser before the break when Roberts' deep cross found the head of Ljubicic in the six yard box.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw McGill make an early save from Dinzeyi's downward header at a corner. The keeper's luck ran out when Patterson played Griffiths through for a one on one.

Shihab was booked after a late tackle on Griffiths – the second in as many minutes. Griffiths ran onto a poor back pass by Clark-Eden to beat the keeper again and open up a two goal lead. Cochrane fired over before Spurs increased their lead. Griffiths got through on the right and despite McGill saving his effort Patterson was quick to score from the rebound.

Spurs made their first change, replacing Dinzeyi with Lock who went to right back allowing Statham to move inside. Brighton made a double change to try and get back into the game. It seemed to work as Longman dribbled through the Spurs defence to finish with a low drive past Austin.

Cashman saw his effort deflected over for a corner from which a Ljubicic header at the back post was saved. The big Brighton striker had another two chances soon after. The first came from a Morrison cross which he hit wide and he then headed over a minute later. Those misses proved costly as Spurs made it six when Patterson was again in the right place to score his third goal when McGill saved from Griffiths and he put in the loose ball.

Morrison's pace got him clear to draw a save from Austin before Spurs made a double change with Okedina replacing Mukendi and Thorpe coming on for Griffiths as Spurs looked to see out the game. Lyons-Foster was booked for a late tackle on Cashman which saw the"Seagulls" player having to go off. Morrison again got away to draw a save from Austin. Richards played in Patterson for an effort that was just wide of the far post in the last minute.

This was a good win for Spurs who hit six goals for the first time this season. They also showed that they have tactics now for defensive playing sides. Spurs are scoring plenty of goals at the moment, with 14 in the last three league games in addition to twelve in three cup games. While keeping clean sheets in the cup games they have conceded 11 goals which cost them four points. Spurs are sending an U-17 squad to Qatar for the Alkass International Trophy before Southampton visit Hotspur Way on the 3rd February for the next League game.

Ray

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