Development Squad Pre-Season Friendly
  Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield
          Wednesday 31st July 2019, 7pm

      ENFIELD TOWN     2 – 0     SPURS XI
      (White/Blue)              (All Blue)

Enfield(4-2-3-1):– McDonald(Forde 79); Hatton(Trialist 46), Payne, Thomas(Livings 57), Weatherstone(C), Rumens(Blackman 46), Taaffe(Mubiayi 57), Youngs(Trialist 63), Bricknell(Trialist 63), Charles, Potton(Bantick 63)

Unused Subs:- King, 2 Trialists

Scorers:- Bricknell 12, Payne 24

Spurs(4-1-4-1):– Austin; Cesay(Kyesu 80), Statham, Michael Craig(Matthew Craig 74), Okedina, Muir, Tracey, Shashoua, Sterling(C)(Scamette 69), Thorpe(Mundle 69), Whittaker(Carrington 69)

Unused Sub:- Kurylowicz

Referee:– Alex Kyriacou
Assistants:– Steve Walsh & Grant Mathias

Spurs' last pre-season game at this level saw then travel the short distance to Enfield Town. Last year Spurs also played here with Edwards scoring twice from the penalty spot in a 2-1 win. Having played the previous two games with much the same players, for this match the Spurs team was made up of half U-23 and half U-18 players. No doubt this was due to the involvement of players in the U-21 tournament in France over the weekend where they finished third. The poor level of lighting as well as having a running track around the pitch made viewing for me tricky. It did not help that when the trialists came on they had no numbers on their shirts.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Okedina and Marges Muir with Kallum Cesay at right back and Statham on the left. Michael Craig anchored the midfield with Shashoua and Thorpe ahead of him. They were flanked by Tracey on the right and Whittaker on the left in support of Sterling up front. All the subs on the bench with keeper Kurylowicz were new academy players.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the West end. The referee had been caught out by the Spurs' second kit and had a yellow bib over his black shirt for the first half before changing into a red top for the second along with one of his assistants. Spurs begun well, moving the ball quickly as they built up from the back pinning the home side back. Sterling played in Thorpe to fire over before Enfield broke out with a long ball that was knocked out for a throw-in. The throw was taken quickly to Bricknell at the near post for him to fire in on the turn to put Enfield in the lead.

Spurs continued to have most of the ball but went further behind when they conceded a free kick on the left. Taaffe took the kick sending it past the far post where Payne, coming round the back, hit a lovely volley that beat Austin for Enfield's second goal.

Spurs continued to move the ball quickly with Shashoua pulling the strings. Craig's ball to the far post was headed wide by Whittaker before Okedina got forward to fire over and Sterling shot wide. Potton fired over at the other end before Shashoua found Whittaker but his header was saved. Thomas hit over for the hosts before Tracey got down the right and crossed for Thorpe but McDonald smothered his effort. Shashoua sent Tracey through but McDonald saved to keep a clean sheet at the break.

The second half saw plenty of changes with Town making two at the start. Spurs continued to have faith in their passing football with the home side looking more to frustrate them as they held onto their first half lead. Okedina had a header saved from a Shashoua free kick early on. Sterling was just wide with a low drive before Shashoua played a one-two with Thorpe to draw a save from McDonald.

Craig played in Thorpe to fire wide before a raft of changes. Spurs made a triple change with Sterling replaced by Dane Scamette up front, Romaine Mundle came on for Thorpe and Eddie Carrington took over from Whittaker on the left. One of the trialists playing on the left got down the line a couple of times and fired wide across goal.

Matthew Craig replaced his twin brother almost seamlessly in midfield. Shashoua played in Scamette for an effort that was saved before Spurs' last change which saw Cesay replaced by Jeremy Kyezu who went to left back with Statham moving to the right. Bantick fired over for the hosts before Spurs had the last chance at the end when Carrington fired over from a pass by Craig.

It was a good performance by the young Spurs side but the experience of the Enfield players to defend against pace and make the most of their rare chances told in the end. The three Spurs XI games have shown that our development squad looks good for the coming season and hopefully will do better than the last two where they struggled at the wrong end of the table. The academy players look like they can continue with the good football shown last season when our U-18 side went almost the whole season unbeaten.

Ray

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