Premier League 2, 2019-20
  Hotspur Way, Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield
     Friday 23rd April 2019, 12 noon

        SPURS      v     DERBY
     (White/Blue)     (Black/White)
       4-1-4-1          4-2-3-1

         1(0)             2(2)

   Alfie Whiteman  1  Hienrich Ravas
   Jubril Okedina  2  Callum Minkley
      Tariq Hinds  3  Jordan Brown
     Harvey White  4  Max Bird(C)
  Timothy Eyoma(C) 5  Ethan Wassall
     Lyons-Foster  6  Max Hunt 
  Dilan Markanday  7  Morgan Whittaker
    Paris Maghoma  8  Connor Dixon
   Rodel Richards  9  Jahmal Hector-Ingram
    Oakley-Boothe 10  Duane Holmes
    Shilow Tracey 11  Jayden Mictchell-Lawson

     Rayan Clarke 12  Javaun Splatt
  Jonathan De Bie 13  Matt Yates
 Armando Shashoua 14  Josh Shonibare
        (4)58Mins     (11)78Mins
 Jonathan Dinzeyi 15  Cameron Cresswell
                      (7)70Mins
Phoenix Patterson 16  Alax Babos
                      (10)65Mins

Scorers:-
      Richards 67     Whittaker 10
                      Holmes 32 

Booked:-
 Eyoma 39(Holding)    Bird 65(Late)
                      Babos 90(Holding) 

Coach:-
    Wayne Burnett     Darren Wassall

Ref:– Alan Dale
Assistants:– Ryan Head & Christopher Myatt
Fourth Official:– Joseph Cannon 

It was a hot afternoon at Hotspur Way for the first Development game at this venue this season with Derby County the visitors. Whitewebbs Road was closed off for road works but that did not stop a good sized crowd from attending. Spurs had got off to a good start to the new season with two wins while Derby got their first win on Monday against Southampton. Last season Spurs beat Derby 3-1 at Stevenage on the last day of the season which prevented Spurs from being relegated. Both sides included nine players that were involved in that April game.

Spurs lined up with Whiteman in goal behind Eyoma and Lyons-Foster with Okedina at right back and Hinds on the left. White anchored the midfield with Oakley-Boothe and Maghoma ahead of him. They were flanked by Markanday on the right and Tracey on the left in support of Richards up front. Roles and Georgiou went out on loan this week (as did George Marsh), so it was good to see Patterson on the subs' bench.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the South end looking to move the ball through the midfield while Derby pressed from the front looking to win the ball and counter. Hector-Ingram was also a good target for long balls from the back.

Spurs could not settle against the press that saw White closed down by three players to lose the ball, enabling Whittaker to open the scoring. Whiteman saved from Bird before Derby won a penalty when Mitchell-Lawson got goalside of Okedina. Whiteman saved the penalty kck by Hector-Ingram, diving to his right.

The reprieve did not last long because Spurs failed to clear another turnover and Holmes struck from 25 yards for their second. Derby had already begun to slow the game down to eat up the clock but continued to force mistakes from the Spurs defence. Eyoma was booked after he lost the ball. Whiteman saved that free kick taken by Holmes, diving to his right. Spurs pushed for a goal but the visitors' defence held firm to allow them to go in at half-time with a two goal lead.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Spurs step up a gear and begin to cause the Derby defence problems. Markanday curled an effort just wide but the "Rams" still broke out with Mitchell-Lawson firing wide and Dixon drawing a save from Whiteman.

A free kick awarded for a foul on Tracey was hit over the bar by Maghoma. Bird went into the ref's book for taking out Okedina on the bye-line to stop another raid down the right. Hinds got forward but his effort was tipped onto the bar by Ravas. Finally Spurs' pressure paid off when Markanday got down the right and crossed for Richards to hit an overhead effort in the box. This was blocked but Richards followed up to put the ball into the net.

Markanday drew a save and Lyons-Foster fired wide following a corner when Tracey played the ball in from the right. Shashoua replaced White as Spurs pushed for a second and he had a chance turned wide when found by Maghoma. Eyoma headed wide from the resulting corner. Derby sat back to see out time which they did well with Babos being booked when he failed to hold the ball in the corner. Spurs' last chance came when they had a free kick in added time. Shashoua hit it wide of the near post.

This was not a good day for Spurs. Despite having most of the possession they could not break down a well drilled defence that kept them at arm's length from their goal for most of the game. The pressing by the visitors gave little time to dwell on the ball as shown by the first goal. Spurs improved in the second period but could not get more than the one goal. Spurs will look to get back to winning ways next week when they travel to Aldershot to play Chelsea who take on Manchester City tonight looking to continue their 100% start.

Ray

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