Premier U-18 League, 2018-19
       Little Heath, Goodmayes, Essex
   Saturday 22nd September 2018, 10.30am

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

             0(0)           9(2)

         Joseph Anang  1  Joshua Oluwayemi
   William Greenidge(C)2  Maximus Tainio
  Josh Wilson-Esbrand  3  Dennis Cirkin
 Keenan Appiah-Forson  4  Jamie Bowden
       Joshua Okotcha  5  Brooklyn Lyons-Foster
       Jamal Baptiste  6  Harvey White
     Emmanuel Longelo  7  Dilan Markanday
         Peter Stroud  8  Armando Shashoua(C)
         Veron Parkes  9  Troy Parrott
     Sabastian Nebyla 10  Rodel Richards
        Amadou Diallo 11  J'Neil Bennett

        Samuel Nsumbu 12  Jubril Okendina
            (5)89Mins
        Daniel Jinadu 13  Kacpar Kurylowicz
         Lennon Peake 14  Rayan Clarke
            (9)66Mins     (10)60Mins
                      15  Maurizio Pochettino
                          (11)64Mins
         Reece Hannam 16  Maxwell Statham
            (8)55Mins     (8)71Mins

Scorers:-
                          Longelo (o.g.)45
                          Richards 45+3, 58
                          White 50 (pen)
                          Parrott 62, 77
                          Bennett 64
                          Markanday 83
                          Clarke 88

Booked:-
     Baptiste 18(Pull)    Pochettino 79(Push)
     Stroud 54(Foul)      White 81(Foul)

Coaches:-
          Steve Potts     Matt Wells

Referee:– Matthew Pollington

Spurs travelled to West Ham top of the Southern group by a point from the hosts and Arsenal. West Ham lost to Aston Villa last week 1-0 while Spurs also lost their 100% record being held to a 1-1 draw by Reading. Last season the"Hammers" beat Spurs 2-0 here having lost 3-1 at Hotspur Way in a poor season. Due to the hosts playing an U-23 game in the afternoon this match satrted half an hour earlier than scheduled and Spurs did not look ready.

Spurs lined up with Oluwayemi in goal behind Lyons-Foster and White with Tainio at right back and Cirkin on the left. Bowden anchored the midfield with Shashoua and Richards ahead of him while Markanday was on the right flank and Bennett on the left in support of Parrott up front.

Spurs defended the East end in the first half and were nearly caught out when Longelo got behind to get down the right and cross for Parkes to fire over from ten yards. Spurs then got forward and Bennett came inside off the left and curled the ball off the crossbar. A free kick taken by Bowden on the right was headed over by Lyons-Foster. Bennett played in Markanday for a chance that produced a corner.

A break by the home side saw Oluwayemi save from Diallo. Parkes wasted another chance when set up by Nebyla. Baptiste was booked for pulling back Shashoua as he got past him as the"Hammers" continued to press high. Diallo drew a save after winning the ball, before Richards was played in by Bowden to fire wide.

Richards headed wide from a centre by White following a corner before there was a break in play as the referee had to go off injured and swapped places with one of his assistants. Spurs were now getting on top and Bennett squared the ball for White to test the keeper. Lyons-Foster headed over from another corner while Bowden drew a save from a Bennett cross. Richards played in Parrott for an effort that was saved before Longelo got through to be stopped by Oluwayemi. West Ham finally cracked when a half-cleared corner was played in and Longelo turned it into his own net. Spurs added a second before the break when Parrott had a shot saved and Richards was quickest to the rebound to force home.

There were no changes for the start of the second half as the rain began to fall. Spurs continued where they left off with Bowden hitting a free kick over after a foul on Parrott. Lyons-Foster played a ball out of the back for Markanday to advance and shoot. Anang saved for a corner which was played into the near post to Lyons-Foster who went down to win a cheap penalty. White stepped up to score sending the keeper the wrong way.

As West Ham looked for a way back into the game Lyons-Foster made a goal-saving tackle to prevent Longelo pulling one back. Stroud went into the ref's book for a bad foul that saw him replaced quickly after Markanday fired wide a minute later. With the"Hammers" throwing caution to the wind Richards latched onto a long ball from Shashoua to fire past Anang from the edge of the area for his second.

Richards was not able to complete his hat-trick as he came off on the hour having just come back from injury. He was replaced by Clarke who went to the left flank with Bennett switching to the right and Markanday going infield.

Clarke was soon in action as he attacked down the left with the keeper out to block him. The Spurs man knocked the ball into the path of Parrott to score the fifth goal. It was soon six when Parrott played in Bennett as he came in from the right and drilled the ball low into the far corner.

Bennett made way for Pochettino as Spurs continued to pass their way through the home defence as when Bowden played in Markanday to draw a save. Clarke had another effort that was saved for a corner before Statham came on for Shashoua going into the back four to allow White to step into midfield.

Parrott got his second when he got behind the home defence running onto Bowden's ball over the top and lifting the ball over the advancing Anang for Spurs' seventh. Pochettino was booked for a pull and was followed by White into the ref's book. Markanday was sent through the middle and despite seeing his first effort saved he followed up to score the eighth. Diallo curled wide from the left as the"Hammers" still looked for a goal but Spurs capped it off with a ninth goal when Tainio started the move to Parrott who played in Clarke to sweep the ball past the keeper.

Spurs could have been dead and buried in the first half if the "Hammers"' finishing had been better but once they got their passing game going to make inroads in the home defence Spurs looked the more dangerous. It took an own goal to break West Ham's resistance and when they conceded the penalty they knew it was not their day. This was the second time Spurs have hit nine this year as they beat Arsenal by the same score in the last game of last season. The best thing was Spurs keeping a clean sheet. Arsenal beat Norwich 5-1 to move into second place above West Ham who they play next while Spurs entertain Norwich. Next week Spurs will play Wolves in the PL Cup at Hotspur Way as the game has been moved from the Wolves training ground.

Ray

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