Premier U-18 League, Southern Group 2019-20
         Hotspur Way, Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield
          Saturday 14th September 2019, 11am

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

                  2(0)            3(1)

        Kacpar Kurylowicz  1  Kristjan Hegyi
             Kallum Cesay  2  Will Greenidge
             Dermi Lusala  3  Sam Caiger
            Matthew Craig  4  Keenan Forson
             Marques Muir  5  Josh Okotcha(C)
             Luis Binks(C) 6  Iyiola Adebayo
              Chay Cooper  7  Kai Corbett
               Max Robson  8  Jake Giddings
             Enoch Asante  9  Veron Parkes
          Rafferty Pedder 10  Sebastien Nebyla
        Tarelle Whittaker 11  Kamarai Swyer

           Romaine Mundle 12  Daniel Chesters
                (7)76Mins     (7)54Mins
       Timothee Lo-Tutala 13  Josh Roach
                          14  Freddie Potts
                              (11)83Mins
         Eddie Carrington 15  Gael Kileba
               (11)80Mins     (10)57Mins
              Yago Alonso 16  Lennon Peake
               Kion Etete 18
                (8)46Mins

Scorers:-
         Asante 53            Corbett 8
         Cooper 69            Parkes 54
                              Caiger 79

Booked:-
         Muir 71(Foul)        Giddings 11(Foul)
         Binks 88(Foul)       Greenidge 44(Pull)

Coach:-
         Matthew Taylor       Kevin Keen

Referee:– Jonathan Creswick 

It was a warm sunny morning at Hotspur Way for the visit of London rivals West Ham United. The "Hammers" arrived having drawn their last two games, whereas Spurs had got their first two wins of the season with 4-0 score lines. Last season Spurs did the double over their opponents recording a 9-0 win away and 5-3 win at home. The home game was closer than the scoreline shows with Spurs having a young side that incuded a trialist who scored twice to earn a place in this season's academy. I missed the game but was told that the trialist was Etete who started on the bench for today's game.

Spurs lined up with Kurylowicz in goal behind Muir and Binks with Cesay at right back and Lusala on the left. Matthew Craig took his brother's position of midfield anchor with Robson and Pedder ahead of him. They were flanked by Cooper on the right and Whittaker on the left in support of Asante up front.The players on the sub's bench did not have the numbers assigned to them for some reason which caused some confusion - Etete was supposed to be 12.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the North end and were quick to settle into their passing game with Hegyi saving an Asante header from a Robson cross. West Ham have developed a system that relies on the defensive midield pair, in this case Forson and Giddings, who break up attacks and support the attack which soon began to do its job on the Spurs midfield.

Forson fouled Whittaker just outside the area and Pedder took the free kick that was saved by Hegyi at full stretch. The visitors launched a quick attack with Parkes getting down the right to cross low for Corbett to score.

Gidding picked up a booking for a foul on Cooper from behind. Lusala crossed for Robson to fire wide before Kurylowicz had to save a header by Swyer at a corner. Asante was played in on the left but his effort was blocked for a corner. The "Hammers" were making more breaks with Corbett firing over and Parkes also putting his effort from a free kick over. Parkes did test the keeper before Asante had another chance that he put over the bar.

Just before the break, West Ham picked up their second booking of the match when Greenidge was penalised for pulling back Whittaker.

Spurs replaced Robson for the start of the second with Etete who went up front with Asante moving to the right outside Cooper. This change may have affected the visitors' marking at the back because when Whittaker put in a cross from the left Asante was able to come in to head the equaliser unmarked as Etete had drawn players to the near post.

West Ham regained the lead when they won a free kick on the edge of the area to the right. Parkes scored from the kick that went in off the far post. As the visitors began to close down the midfield, Keliba fired wide and Binks had a long range effort that was wide.

Etete headed the ball into the path of Whittaker to fire wide. Asante got down the right and pulled the ball back for Cooper to score inside the near post to draw Spurs level again.

West Ham were having the better of the play, winning the ball in midfield and getting forward quickly with Muir picking up a booking. Spurs' chances were few now with Craig playing a through ball to Asante who played in Etete to draw a save being the best opportunity. To try and freshen up the midfield, Mundle came on for Cooper.

Potts got down the left and his effort was saved by Kurylowicz but the ball fell kindly for Caiger to fire in. Etete had an effort go wide for a corner before Spurs' last throw of the dice saw Carrington replace Whittaker. Giddings was wide from a free kick and Kurylowicz had to save from Parkes as the visitors saw out the game. Etete had a last chance for Spurs when played in by Muir but his effort went over the bar.

The win moved West Ham above Spurs into fourth place and makes up for their defeats last season. Spurs did not play badly but were unable to counter the visitors' defensive formation with their passing game. They did try longer balls in the second half for Etete but continued to try and play through the middle against a strong defensive midfield screen. Whittaker was the best outlet for Spurs with his pace on the left. Next week they travel to Southampton who were beaten 5-1 by leaders Fulham this weekend.

Ray

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