Premier U-18 League, South Group, 2018-19
         Hotspur Way, Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield
           Saturday 11th August 2018, 11.30am

                SPURS     V    BRIGHTON & H.A.
            (White/Blue)        (Green/White)

               3-1-5-1             4-2-3-1

                 6(3)                4(3) 

       Jonathan De Bie(C) 1  George Bentley
        Maximus Tainio    2  Sam Packham
            Luis Binks    3  Ayo Tanimowo
          Jamie Bowden    4  Tareq Shihab
          Harvey White    5  Ben Clarke-Eden
         Paris Maghoma    6  Haydon Roberts
       Dilan Markanday    7  Steff Vukoje
      Armando Shashoua    8  Marc Leonard
          Troy Parrott    9  Danny Cashman(C)
     Phoenix Patterson   10  Jayden Ouen
        J'neil Bennett   11  Jack Sprong

       Malachi Walcott   12  Cameron Tutt
                             (5)85Mins
      Joshua Oluwayemi   13  Roco Rees
 Brooklyn Lyons-Foster   14  Matt Weaire
            (10)60Mins       (3)76Mins
       Jeremie Mukendi   15  Lorent Tolaj
             (7)73Mins       (8)61Mins
         Dennis Cirkin   16  Matt Everitt
             (8)79Mins

Scorers:-
      Binks 34               Ouen 9, 26, 68
      Parrott 43, 45+5       Vukoje 36
      Maghoma 52
      Lyons-Foster 61
      Bennett 63

Coach:-
            Matt Wells       Mark Beard

Referee:– Shaun Barry

It was a warm morning for the first game of the new season, thankfully not as hot as a few days before. Brighton finished four places below Spurs last season but did win the game here 1-0 in a tight game where they stopped Spurs' passing game and snatched the winner in the last minute. Spurs lined up with a back three in front of skipper De Bie formed of Tainio, White and Binks with Bowden anchoring the midfield in front of them. Ahead of him Maghoma was flanked by Shashoua and Patterson with Markanday wide on the right and Bennett wide on the left in support of Parrott up front.

With so many many attacking midfield players Spurs tried to over-run the visitors' defence which played deep with numbers and looked to break. Parrott headed wide and Bennett drew a save. With Bowden drawn forward Brighton broke down the left and hit an early ball into the box for the run of Ouen. De Bie saved his header but could not stop him tucking in the rebound.

Maghoma fired over from a Parrott pass and another break saw Leonard shoot over for Brighton. Bennett drove wide before another break saw Cashman play in Ouen from the halfway line. The Brighton man held off Bowden to beat De Bie with a low finish inside the right post.

Spurs continued to press and Parrott had a header over the bar for a corner from which the striker made a run and flick that was wide of the near post. The pressure finally told when Binks arrived at the far post to meet a cross and his header was deemed to have crossed the line before Bentley cleared. Spurs' joy was short-lived. A low ball in from the right was not dealt with by White and Vukoje nipped in ahead of him and smashed it in off the crossbar.

Shashoua laid the ball off to Bowden who fired over from distance before Spurs pulled another goal back. Maghoma tried to dribble into the area but as the ball ran loose Parrott was on hand to sweep the ball in. Spurs kept pushing for another goal and Maghoma hit the far corner of the goal and when the ball was not cleared Parrott drove in to draw Spurs level on the stroke of half-time.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Spurs looking to continue to push forward. Brighton had the first chance of the half when Roberts headed wide at a corner but Maghoma provided some great footwork to come in from the left and score with a right-footed shot to give Spurs the lead for the first time in the match.

Spurs now got on top of their stubborn opponents and Parrott drew a save. Shashoua came in off the left and laid the ball off to Markanday whose effort was blocked for a corner. Lyons-Foster came on for Patterson going into the back with White moving forward to anchor the midfield and Bowden moving forward as well.

Lyons-Foster was only on for a minute when he got his head to a White free kick to score Spurs' fifth goal. Brighton now sent on a second striker as they looked to come out. Bennett found himself in space to the left of goal and flighted the ball into the top far corner for number six. That should have been it but Lyons-Foster slipped carrying the ball out of the back claiming he was tripped. The ref said play on and Ouen picked up the loose ball and drove in for his hat-trick.

Bentley saved from Bennett and also saved a header by Parrott from a Bowden centre. Mukendi replaced Markanday on the right to provide fresh legs. Binks had a header saved at a corner before Ouen fired over for the visitors. Spurs' last change saw Cirkin replace Shashoua going to left back as Spurs reverted to a back four to see out the game. In the closing minutes Bennett had a couple of efforts off target before the final whistle.

Spurs began with a cavalier attacking attitude and had an inexperienced defence which saw them go 2-0 and 3-1 down to a side happy to sit back and wait for the chances to appear. Thanks to Parrott Spurs were able to go in level at half-time. This allowed them to continue to make their attacking play in the second which finally told against the visitors. Next week they go to Swansea who drew 1-1 at Fulham today. Last season Spurs won 5-2 in Wales. I missed that game and will miss this one as I will be at Wembley for the Fulham game.

Ray

Follow @spursodyssey