Premier League U-18 Cup,Group E
     Newcastle United Training Ground
     Saturday 23rd November 2019, 11am

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

            5(3)             2(2)

     Oliver Marshall  1  Thimothee Lo Tutala
          Joe Oliver  2  Dermi Lusala
         Tom Midgley  3  Dennis Cirkin(C)
      Lucas De Bolle  4  Kallum Cesay
       Lewis Brannen  5  Marques Muir
     Lucas Gamblin(C) 6  Aaron Skinner
    Dylan Stephenson  7  Romaine Mundle
           Joe White  8  Rafferty Pedder
           Kain Reed  9  Tarrelle Whittaker
      Josh Gilchrist 10  Max Robson
          Josh Scott 11  J'Neil Bennett

       Josh Harrison 12  Yago Alonso
           (9)72Mins     (7)60Mins
          Will Brown 13  Kacper Kurylowicz
      Josh Nicholson 14  Eddie Carrington
                         (10)84Mins
         Jamie Miley 15  Jeremy Kyezu
          (10)89Mins     (8)80Mins
     Michael Ndiweni 16

Scorers:- 
            White 16     Robson 31
         Reed 17, 21     Bennett 39
            Scott 69
         Harrison 83

Booked:-
                         Whittaker 14
                         Bennett 45 

Coaches:-
         N. Winskill     Matthew Taylor 

Referee:– C. Chatten 

Spurs travelled to Tyneside to face Newcastle United in the last round of group games in the Premier League U-18 Cup with all four teams on three points. A win for either side would see them through to the knockout stage. The weather was not good due to heavy rain and the match was in doubt before the referee gave the go-ahead. Because of the poor conditions the U-16's played on an astroturf pitch for their safety and the U-18's had to play on a somewhat waterlogged pitch next to it. Having made the long trip to the northeast everyone wanted the game to be played so it went ahead.

Spurs lined up with Lo Tutala in goal behind Muir and Skinner with Lusala at right back and Cirkin on the left. Cesay anchored the midfield with Robson and Pedder ahead of him. They were flanked by Mundle on the right and Bennett on the left in support of Whittaker up front. The bench was a little short which incdicated that players may have been saved for Tuesday's Champions Youth League game against Olympiacos.

Spurs defended the West end in the first half and despite the conditions tried to play their usual passing game while the home side were more direct and pressed hard. Lo Tutala saved from White early on while Cirkin had a header wide from a corner. Because of the conditions the referee seemed to let some of the challenges go but did book Whittaker for what appeared to be a case of complaining he was not getting the rub of the green.

The home side took the lead from a well taken free kick by White. Spurs had a penalty turned down when Mundle was tackled in the area. Newcastle then got a second when the unlucky Skinner slipped on the wet surface which allowed Reid to run onto the loose ball and beat the exposed Lo Tutala. A third goal came from a corner that was headed against the crossbar before Reed put it into the net.

Spurs did not crumble and kept on trying to move the ball and were rewarded with a goal back when Robson turned in a cross from Lusala after Whittaker's free kick came back off the wall. Whittaker had an effort just over before he laid the ball off to Bennett to advance and score a second for Spurs to make it 3-2 at the break.

Something happened at half-time which saw the referee book Bennett when he came onto the pitch for the second half. There was no indication what for but the referee seemed to treat the Spurs players harder than the home side. Spurs sought to continue taking the game to the opposition with Whittaker firing wide and Cirkin drawing a save from Marshall.

After Newcastle had an effort over the bar Spurs made their first change with Alonso replacing Mundle. Pedder was pulled back when he slipped his marker but the referee did not feel that a booking was required. With Spurs pushing for a goal Newcastle were able to break and Lo Tutala had to make a save before he was beaten when Stephenson got down the right to cross for Scott to score at the far post.

Spurs again did not get the rub when Bennett was wrestled to the ground when he got through which even at this level should have seen the defender red carded. Newcastle got a fifth in identical fashion to the fourth when Stephenson crossed for Harrison to net for the game to finish 5-2.

Spurs tried to play their normal passing game in conditions that were not perfect for it. Newcastle played the right style for the conditions which with the leniency of the referee made it very difficult for Spurs to fully complete. Newcastle and Stoke go through from the group to the knockout stages. I think the U-16's also lost 1-0 but do not know if they had done enough to qualify for the next stage. After Olympiacos on Tuesday for the U-19's there is the FA Youth Cup match against Liverpool on Monday evening (December 2nd) at Stevenage.

Ray

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