Premier U-23 League, Division 1, 2018-19
       Lamex Stadium, Broadhall Way, Stevenage
             Monday 13th August 2018, 7pm

                 SPURS     v     WEST HAM
             (White/Blue)      (Claret/Blue)
                4-1-4-1           4-2-3-1

                  1(1)             3(1)

           Alfie Whiteman  1  Nathan Trott
            Timothy Eyoma  2  Ben Johnson
         Connor Ogilvie(C) 3  Tunji Akinola
             George Marsh  4  Conor Coventry
         Jonathan Dinzeyi  5  Josh Pask
          Japhet Tanganga  6  Reece Oxford(C)
           Marcus Edwards  7  Grady Diangana
             Dylan Duncan  8  Josh Cullen
            Shilow Tracey  9  Xande Silva
          Samuel Shashoua 10  Alfie Lewis
         Anthony Georgiou 11  Nathan Holland

               Jack Roles 12  Mason Barrett
                (8)74Mins     (5)77Mins
          Charlie Freeman 13  Joseph Anang
          Shayon Harrison 14  Jamal Hector-Ingram
               (10)50Mins     (9)77Mins
              Tariq Hinds 15  Anthony Scully
              Jaden Brown 16  Oladapo Afolayan
                (3)67Mins     (7)71Mins

Scorers:-
               Shashoua 5     Silva 41, 46, 48

Booked:-
            Marsh 58(Foul)    Barrett 86(Foul)

Coach:-
             Wayne Burnett    Steve Potts

Attendance:- 742

Referee:– Sam Purkiss
Assistants:– Andy Bennett & Tristan Greaves
Fourth Official:– Jonathan Bolland

It was a warm evening for Spurs' opening game of the season against the visitors West Ham United. Last season Spurs lost at Hotspur Way 3-2 having led 2-0 at half-time. They did beat the "Hammers" 7-2 ten days later at Stevenage in the PL International Cup.

Spurs lined up with Whiteman in goal behind Dinzeyi and Tanganga with Eyoma at right back and Ogilvie on the left. Marsh anchored the midfield with Duncan and Shashoua ahead of him. They were flanked by Edwards on the right and Georgiou on the left in support of Tracey up front.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the South end and soon pushed the visitors back. Spurs took an early lead when, after a short corner routine by Edwards and Georgiou broke down, the ball fell to Shashoua just outside the area on the left. The little midfielder curled the ball in off the far post.

The "Hammers" responded with a drive into the area on the right by Holland drawing a save by Whiteman for a corner. After that the game was played mainly in the visitors' half with Tanganga heading over from one corner and then having another header tipped over. Whiteman was caught by Lewis when collecting a back pass but recovered to get the ball away. Georgiou fired over when played in by Marsh and on another break he got to the edge of the area but his effort was blocked.

Shashoua played in Tracey on the right but his low shot just passed the far post. Shashoua had a low drive saved by Trott with Tracey tangling with the keeper over the loose ball. Then out of the blue the visitors equalised. Duncan tried to clear the ball but it hit Silva who controlled the ball and crashed it into the net from a tight angle. Having dominated the half Spurs went in level at the break.

There were no changes for the start of the second half. West Ham kicked off going forward forcing a foul from which Silva was played in to score his second of the night. Spurs had not recovered from this goal when Holland got down the left and pulled the ball back for Silva to complete his hat-trick.

Spurs never recovered from this and West Ham began to win the loose balls pinning Spurs in their own half. Spurs made a change replacing Shashoua with Harrison in an attempt to get back into the game. Marsh picked up a booking as Spurs struggled to complete. Tanganga headed over from a corner but that was a rare chance.

Diangana fired over after picking up a header by Ogilvie who was injured shortly after and had to be replaced by Brown. Johnson got to the line and pulled the ball back for Silva but his effort was blocked. Spurs' last change was Roles replacing Duncan in the centre of midfield. West Ham made a double change which they stretched out as long as they could. Barrett, who came on, was soon in the ref's book when he fouled Tracey when he got past him on the right. Tracey had to go off and Spurs finished with ten men. With West Ham seeing out the game Spurs pushed for a goal and Edwards hit a free kick over but Whiteman had to save from Holland in the last minute of added time.

This was your typical game of two halves as Spurs were on top in the first and West Ham in the second. Spurs paid the penalty for not adding to the only goal they scored. The "Hammers"' defence had to take some credit for that especially Pask who made a number of interceptions of the final ball. Silva's first goal was lucky as he was probably in an offside position when the ball hit him, but poor defending accounted for the other two. Spurs must pick themselves up for the trip to Anfield on Friday. Liverpool drew 0-0 at Brighton in their first league game last week. Last season Spurs lost 4-2 at Anfield becoming the first team to score against the Reds who had made an unbeaten start to the season.

Ray

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