Tottenham Hotspur Youth Update - March 2018

U-18 League

Spurs began the month with a home game against Swansea. The game was brought forward to the 14th because of the FA Cup tie at Swansea. This was a game of two halves as Spurs dominated the first half and Swansea had the better of the second. The deciding factor was the wind which rose in the second have and help pin Spurs back into their own half. There were plenty of changes to the team due to the U-19 game the previous day allowing U-16 striker Troy Parrot his first game. The game finished 0-0 with Spurs hitting the bar from a free kick.

Team(3-4-2-1) – De Bie(C), Statham, Dinzeyi, Lyons-Foster, Bowden, Patterson(Pochettino 61), A. Shashoua, Richards(Lock 84), Markanday, Clarke, Parrot

Unused Subs. - Oluwayemi, Thorpe

Spurs' second match of the month was a trip to Aston Villa on the 24th. After the disappointment of losing to Chelsea in the Cup Final Spurs youngsters took Villa apart to win 5-0. Spurs stormed through the home defence taking an early lead when Maghoma met Reynolds cross to power in a shot that the keeper could not hold and Markanday netted the loose ball. Maghoma then picked up a loose ball to round the keeper and provide Griffiths an easy finish at the far post. Villa kept Spurs out until the half-hour mark when another cross by Reynolds saw the keeper save from Griffiths and Maghoma follow up to score to go in at halftime 3-0 up. The expected response from Villa saw them waste two good chances before Spurs got the fourth. Tainio hit a deep cross which was headed back at the far post by Shashoua for Richards to head home. Spurs wrapped up the scoring with a run down the right by Pochettino who's shot was saved but the loose ball was bundled in by Richards. Villa missed another clear chance before the end.

Team(4-1-4-1) – Oluwayemi, Tainio, Reynolds, Hinds, Dinzeyi(C), Bowden, Markanday(Pochettino 73), A. Shashoua, P. Maghoma, Patterson(Clarke 79), Griffiths(Richards 62)

Unused Sub. - Freeman, Statham, Scorers – Markanday 5, Griffiths 11, Maghoma 30, Richards 70, 80

Spurs' last match was another away game at West Ham on the 28th. This was a rearranged game that was played in pouring rain. The first half was a very tight affair with hardly a chance. The home side took the lead in the second when De Bie failed to hold a cross and after chances for Griffiths and Markanday, they won a penalty for a foul by Skipp to make it 2-0. Spurs had chances including two cleared off the line but fell to their first defeat in eight games.

Team(4-1-4-1) – De Bie(C), Hinds, Skipp, Dinzeyi, Reynolds, Oakley-Boothe, Mukendi(Markanday 60), A. Shashoua(Statham 72), Patterson, Richards, Griffiths

Unused Subs – Freeman, Lock, Thorpe

Spurs ended the month in sixth place in the Southern League with games in hand.

Premier League Cup – Final

Spurs had to go to Chelsea for the first Premier League Cup Final on the 18th. This turned into a comfortable 2-0 win for the home side with both goals coming in the first half. As in the FA Youth Cup between the two sides, Spurs did better in the second half as the blues looked to see out the game. Since they applied themselves to development football Chelsea have won just about everything going. Before Spurs usually came out on top but in the last four years, Spurs have lost all four matches in cup competitions. Now that Manchester City have put their money into it as well, cups and titles are likely to be shared by the two of them. As beaten finalists, we have shown that we are up there with the best. Victories over Liverpool and Arsenal highlighted our cup run.

Team(4-1-4-1) – De Bie(C), Hinds, Eyoma, Lyons-Foster(Dinzeyi 27), Reynolds, Bowden(P. Maghoma 59), Markanday, Skipp(Richards 75), Patterson, Lloyd-Bennett, Parrot

Unused Subs. - Oluwayemi, A. Shashoua

Booked – Hinds 36

Champions Youth League

Spurs played Porto in the quarter-Final at Hotspur Way after it was switched from Stevenage on the 13th. Spurs did not play as well as they could losing to two first-half goals. The first was an own goal by Skipp trying to clear a header. The second came from a Skipp mistake and compounded by the ball going in under Austin. Spurs did raise their game but could not break through a defensive Porto side in the second half.

Team(4-1-4-1) –Austin, Hinds, Tanganga(Duncan 46), Eyoma, Reynolds(Brown 67), Marsh, S. Shashoua, Skipp, P. Maghoma(Patterson 46), Bennetts, Griffiths

Unused Subs. - De Bie, Dinzeyi, Lyons-Foster, Bowden,

Booked – Hinds 47, Marsh 65, 90+3, Eyoma 85

Sent Off – Marsh 90+3

U-23 League

Spurs started the month by completing the double over Arsenal on the 10th. at Borehamwood with a 3-1 victory. They went behind during early pressure from the home side before getting on top. They equalised from a free kick that was headed back across goal by Tanganga for Eyoma to score and went in front before the break when Skipp got his first goal for Spurs arriving late to score in the top corner. Spurs made sure of the points with a free kick by Bennetts curled over the wall. In a fast-paced open game, there were six booking as the ref tried to keep the game moving.

Team(4-1-4-1) – Whiteman, Eyoma, C. Maghoma(C), Tanganga(Brown 88), Georgiou, Marsh, Bennetts, Skipp, Pritchard(Oakley-Boothe 67), S. Shashoua(Roles77), Griffiths

Unused Subs – O'Reilly, Duncan

Scorers – Eyoma 25, Skipp 34, Bennetts 57

Booked – Georgiou 14, Tanganga 27, Shashoua 59

Spurs finished the month in tenth place in the league.

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