Premier U-18, Southern Group, 2018-19
    Hotspur Way, Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield
       Saturday 30th March 2019, 11am

            SPURS     v     FULHAM
         (White/Blue)     (All Blue)
           4-1-4-1          4-2-3-1

             4(1)             0(0)

    Joshua Oluwayemi  1  Luca Ashby-Hammond
      Jubril Okedina  2  Cody Drameh
     Maxwell Statham  3  Mark Odutayo
Brooklyn Lyons-Foster 4  Jonathan Page
     Malachi Walcott  5  Zico Asare(C)
          Luis Binks  6  Connor McAvoy
 Maurizio Pochettino  7  Harvey Elliott
  Armando Shashoua(C) 8  Ryan De Havilland
        Rayan Clarke  9  Tammy Abraham
     Dilan Markanday 10  Sonny Hilton
         Chay Cooper 11  Fabio Carvalho

       Michael Craig 12  Mac Chisholm
           (8)67Mins
     Jonathan De Bie 13 
     Rafferty Pedder 14  Jean-Pierre Tiehi
          (10)79Mins     (9)46Mins
      Elliott Thorpe 15  Showcat Tahir
          (11)75Mins     (4)62Mins
                     16  Terry Ablade
                     17  Stefan Parkes
                         (3)82Mins

Scorers:-
 Ashby-Hammond (o.g.), 38
 Shashoua, 53
 Markanday, 65
 Thorpe, 78

Booked:-
                         Abraham 45(Foul)

Coach:-
      John McDermott     Colin Omogbehin

Referee:– Michael Begley

It was a warm sunny morning for the visit of Fulham to Hotspur Way on the busy run-in for the Academy. Fulham had earlier in the season been one of two teams that have taken points off Spurs unbeaten season (Reading were the other) with a 1-1 draw at Motspur Park. Last season Fulham beat Spurs 2-1 here.

With the very important trips to Arsenal in three days and Villa next Saturday Spurs had to rotate the squad due to players only being allowed to play twice in a week. Oluwayemi was in goal behind Walcott and Binks with Okedina at right back and Statham on the left. Lyons-Foster anchored the midfield with Markanday and Shashoua ahead of him. They were flanked by Pochettino on the right and Cooper on the left in support of Clarke up front. The short bench included the experienced De Bie and schoolboy Michael Craig but not his twin Matthew.

Spurs defended the North end in a tight first half. The visitors had early chances with Oluwayemi having to make a save before Abraham fired wide. After that Spurs began to settle and Shashoua played in Markanday to fire wide. Clarke just failed to connect with a cross and Binks hit a free kick over after Markanday was fouled.

Walcott headed Cooper's corner wide and Statham was played in by Shashoua to draw a save. Markanday forced a save from Ashby-Hammond before Spurs won a penalty when Clarke was fouled by Drameh. Shashoua stepped up and hit the inside of the left post before the ball rebounded off Ashby-Hammond into the net. Binks hit another effort over before he was fouled by Abraham in the last minute of the half as the Fulham striker lost his cool and caught him from behind to be rightly booked.

Fulham replaced Abraham for the second half with an even taller striker who was less effective than the man he replaced. In the first minute of the half Spurs won a corner from which Pochettino saw his effort saved and Binks followed up with a shot that was blocked.

Oluwayemi saved from Elliott before Spurs doubled their lead. A long ball by Binks was played out to Cooper by Shashoua who saw his fierce shot saved by the keeper but then put in by the advancing Shashoua. Walcott blocked a shot by Tahir as Fulham opened up in search of a goal before Shashoua fired over.

Markanday played in Cooper to draw a save before he got on the scoresheet himself coming in off the right to slot low into the near corner. Spurs began to make changes with the game won with Shashoua making way for Craig.

Tiehi headed over from a corner before Thorpe replaced Cooper and got on the scoresheet soon after. He headed in at the far post from a deep cross by the other substitute - Craig. That signalled the third change with Markanday coming off for Pedder. With Spurs looking to close out the game Pedder fired wide while Oluwayemi saved a header from De Havilland.

Spurs showed that even with the changes made they were still too good for a side that made life difficult for them in their last meeting. The likes of Bennett, Cirkin and White will be fresh for the game at Arsenal as well as Shashoua and Markanday who did not play 90 minutes. Arsenal also warmed up for Tuesdays clash with an 8-0 win over bottom club Swansea.

Ray

P.S - Arsenal always make it difficult for regular observers to visit their training ground to watch events such as youth games, but Ray was unable to attend this crunch game due to personal commitments anyway. As the Spurs Official site reports in full, Spurs did take a first half 2-0 lead through Paris Maghoma and a Harvey White penalty. However, Luis Binks was sent off before half-time and this proved crucial as Arsenal scored three late second half goals to four points clear of the previously unbeaten Spurs side. Spurs do have one game in hand, but this was a devastating defeat.

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