FA Youth Cup, 4th Round, 2019-20
       DW Stadium, Loire Way, Wigan
      Wednesday 8th January 2020, 7pm

          WIGAN     v     SPURS
       (All Blue)      (White/Blue)
          4-4-2          4-1-4-1

           2(1)            0(0)

        Sam Tickle  1  Thimothee Lo-Tutala
    Harry Jolley(C) 2  Marqes Muir
     Luke Robinson  3  Dennis Cirkin
   James Carragher  4  Harvey White
   Louis Isherwood  5  Malachi Walcott(C)
       Baba Adeeko  6  Luis Binks
       Sean McGurk  7  Tarrelle Whittaker
       Jensen Weir  8  Max Robson
       Kyle Joseph  9  Kion Etete
      Joe Gelhardt 10  Rafferty Pedder
  Mackenzie O'Neil 11  J'Neil Bennett

    Bobby Jones(GK)12  Romaine Mundle
                   13  Kacper Kurylowicz(GK)
        Ollie Broe 14  Dermi Lusala
    Charlie Hughes 15  Aaron Skinner
                       (10)69Mins
      Kieran Lloyd 16  Dante Cassanova
      Millen Brown 17
      Alfie Devine 18
         (7)87Mins
      Tom Costello 19
      (10)90+3Mins
                   20  Isak Solberg(GK)

Scorers:-
      Weir 17
      Joseph 62

Booked:-
Gelhardt 29(Late)      Pedder 68(Late)

Coaches:-
     Peter Murphy      Matthew Taylor

Attendance:– 668

Referee:– Daniel Locker
Assistants:– Mark Ryder & Luis Griffiths
Fourth Official:– Liam Ockleshaw 

Spurs travelled to Wigan on the back of a good win over second placed Fulham to face a Wigan side on an unbeaten run of twelve games to top the Professional Development League North. Spurs beat Cup holders Liverpool in the third round while Wigan beat Croydon 8-1. Last season Wigan got to the fifth round where they lost to Liverpool which was one round further than Spurs got losing to Arsenal in the fourth. Spurs played Wigan in the third round here in 2009 when Spurs had a comfortable 1-0 victory thanks to an early goal from Harry Kane. Nathan Byrne who was a full back in that Spurs side now plays for Wigan.

Spurs lined up with Lo-Tutala in goal behind Walcott and Binks with Muir at right back and Cirkin on the left. White anchored the midield with Robson and Pedder ahead of him. They were flanked by Whittaker on the right and Bennett on the left in support of Etete up front. With youngsters Cassanova and keeper Solberg on the bench it would suggest that Spurs had a problem with fit/available players.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half which saw them push forward for an early goal. The "Latics" pressed hard and looked for breaks as they defended well and had the first chance after ten minutes. Jolley crossed for Joseph to head wide on the break.

Lo-Tutala had to save from Gelhardt on another break before the opening goal. Walcott had made a good tackle to stop the run of Joseph which the referee deemed a foul (not the first of some dubious decisions) and gave the hosts a free kick centrally just outside the area. The kick by Weir took a deflection that wrong-footed the keeper to give Wigan the lead.

Spurs continued to try and pass their way through the home defence and came close to scoring from a corner which was headed goalward by Walcott. Bennett tried a backheel that was blocked by O'Neil. The trickery of Bennett was causing the hosts problems and it was not surprising when Gelhardt was booked for a late tackle on the Spurs player.

Bennett has a habit of being very vocal about his treatment and the referee made plain that he would be in trouble if he continued to complain. Spurs did put the ball in the net from a White free kick when Etete headed back across goal for Binks to head home, but it was ruled out for offside. Wigan continued to force turnovers and put pressure on the Spurs defence. Lo-Tutala got down to save a free kick by McGurk at his near post and a header by Carragher from a corner. Another corner just before the break saw McGurk fire wide.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Spurs push forward more in search of the equaliser. White had a shot from distance fly wide and Whittaker also fired wide for another chance. When Wigan did break Gelhardt crossed for Joseph to have a header saved by Lo-Tutala.

The next break by Wigan saw McGurk get down the right. His shot hit the bar and was collected by Gelhardt on the left. Gelhrardt's cross found Joseph who was able to turn and fire home for 2-0. There was no way back for Spurs now and Lo-Tutala saved from Gelhardt before Pedder was booked for a late lunge on the sideline. He was quickly replaced by Skinner who sat in front of the back four allowing White to get forward more.

Wigan were now looking to attack at every opportunity and Gelhardt fired wide. White drew a save from Tickle with a low drive. Wigan made a couple of changes as they looked to see out the game. Spurs' last chance between these two substitutions saw Etete head wide from a White free kick. Wigan also had a goal disallowed for offside in the closing minutes.

Wigan were much too strong for Spurs unlike in the previous meeting. They were well organised and knew how to prevent Spurs playing their passing game and attacked with strength and pace. It should be noted that while Wigan are in the Premier League's second tier they are by no means a poor club. It just means that they do not have the high level training facilities of the top academy teams. Spurs return to League action on Saturday with a trip to Brighton.

Ray

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