Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.

    Premier League 2, Division 1, 2018-19
   Lamex Stadium, Broadhall Way, Stevenage
       Friday 15th February 2019, 7pm

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

           0(0)              4(3)

     Brandon Austin  1  Deyan Illev
        Tariq Hinds  2  Jordi Osei-Tutu
      Dennis Cirkin  3  Julio Pleguezuelo(C)
       George Marsh  4  Charlie Gilmour
  Japhet Tanganga(C) 5  Danny Ballard
      Timothy Eyoma  6  Konstantinos Mavropanos
      Paris Maghoma  7  Xavier Amaechi
Tashan Oakley-Boothe 8  Joe Willock
      Shilow Tracey  9  Eddie Nketiah
         Jack Roles 10  Dominic Thompson
     J'Neil Bennett 11  Bukayo Saka

       Dylan Duncan 12  Tyreece John-Jules
                        (3)65Mins
      Thomas Glover 13  Tom Smith
                        (1)76Mins
   Armando Shashoua 14  Trae Coyle
         (10)72Mins
BrooklynLyons-Foster15  Gedion Zelalem
                        (7)86Mins
   Jonathan Dinzeyi 16  Zech Medley

Scorers:-
                        Willock 3, 30
                        Gilmour 24 (pen)
                        Nketiah 47

Booked:-
   Bennett 80(Pull)     Pleguezuelo 42(Block)
                        Gilmour 74(Trip)
                        Smith 84(Time)

Attendance:– 890

Coach:-
      Wayne Burnett     Freddie Ljungberg

Referee:– Josh Smith
Assistants:– Damith Bandana & Darin Geary
Fourth Official:– Joel Mannix

It was a cool evening after a warm day for the U-23s' North London derby. The visitors were going for the double having beaten Spurs 2-1 at the Emirates. Spurs lost their last game at Brighton 2-0 while the visitors had returned to winning ways with a 5-1 beating of Manchester City. Last season Spurs beat Arsenal 3-2 at Hotspur Way.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Tanganga and Eyoma with Hinds at right back and Cirkin on the left. Marsh anchored the midfield with Maghoma and Roles ahead of him. They were flanked by Oakley-Boothe on the right and Bennett on the left in support of Tracey up front.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the South end but were faced by a high pressing game by the visitors who were quite happy to commit fouls to stop Spurs from building their passing game. They also looked a yard faster than Spurs which produced an early goal. Saka hit a ball to the far post where Amaechi laid it off for Willock to beat Cirkin to the ball as it rolled across the six yard box.

Bennett played in Roles for a chance but Iliev got to the ball first. Marsh was penalised for handball when he tried to clear another centre. Gilmour stepped up to send Austin the wrong way to double the visitors' lead.

The "Gunners" kept the pressure on and Nketiah drew a save from Austin which curled round the far post for a corner. From the corner the ball was played back for Willock on the edge of the area to fire in his second and Arsenal's third goal. Iliev saved a header by Tracey from Bennett's cross quickly moving the ball upfield for Nketiah to fire wide of the far post. Pleguezuelo was booked for blocking Tracey's run down the right flank having been spoken to for pulling back Hinds earlier. Quite a few of the visiting players went down during the half and the referee even held up the game to allow Ballard to put on his boot.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Spurs get forward more. However, they began by giving away a goal when Roles' poorly hit back pass was intercepted by Nketiah who made it 4-0.

Tracey played in Bennett to draw a save and Cirkin got forward to win a corner when Iliev pushed away his effort. Roles then saw his effort saved, before firing wide when Austin's long kick was played to him by Tracey. Bennett had another effort saved before Spurs made a change with Shashoua replacing Roles.

Gilmour went into the ref's book for a trip on Tracey as he got away. Arsenal players were still going to ground including Iliev who was replaced by the sub keeper. Most players looked as if they were suffering from cramp which was not surprising considering their workrate. Bennett was booked after he chased Osei-Tutu the length of the pitch pulling him back before he got into the area. From the free kick Amaechi hit the near post. Arsenal sought to close out the game when Maghoma fired over. Smith was booked for time wasting and Amaechi took his time leaving the pitch when being subbed with cramp.

This was a bad defeat for Spurs who never really got going. The visitors were more determined, running hard all game as the number suffering cramp showed. Spurs may have had their eyes on next week's Champions Youth League play-off in Greece on their mind. They were second best to the visitors who deserved their win and the bragging rights.Spurs are just above the relegation zone with Chelsea the next visitors to Stevenage.

Ray

Follow @spursodyssey