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Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.
Premier Academy League – Group B
UCL Sports Ground, Bell Lane, London Colney
Saturday 29th October 2011, 10.30am
WATFORD v SPURS
(Yellow/Red) (White/Blue)
4-5-1 4-4-2
2(1) 2(1)
Jack Bonham 1 Billy Granger
Chimdi Akubuine 2 Grant Ward
Aaron Tumwa 3 Daniel Day
Connor Smith 4 James Yeboah
Tommy Hoban(C)5 Ramil Sheriff
Jordan Willmore 6 Ronnie Hawkins
Luke O'Nien 7 Kenneth McEvoy
Stephan
Hamilton-Forbes 8 Laste Dombaxe
Dereece Gardner 9 Shaquille Coulthirst(C)
Sean Murray 10 Lee Angol
Kamaron English 11 Jack Munns
Austin Easton 12 Oliver Modeste
(17)54Mins. (4)64Mins.
13 Luke McGee
Kyle Connolly 14 Daniel Akindayini
(6)68Mins.
Morgan Ferrier 15 Thomas Gardiner
Michael Kalu 16 Roman Michael-Percil
(9)46Mins.
Asamuah Lambert 17
(7)46Mins.
Scorers:-
Hamilton-Forbes 39 Dombaxe 27
Murray 58 McEvoy 50
Coach:-
D. Hughes A. Inglethorpe
It was a sunny cool morning when I finally got to the pitch having arrived late. As expected, due to the postponed NextGen game Spurs had a stronger side out than usual. This was good as Watford are usually a physically imposing side. As there were no teamsheets I apologise for any mistakes.
Spurs lined up with Sheriff and Yeboah in front of Granger with Ward at right back and Day on the left. Dombaxe and Hawkins started in the centre of midfield with McEvoy on the right flank and Munns on the left. Angol supported Coulthirst up front.
I missed the opening goal, scored by Dombaxe direct from a free kick. It seems that Spurs were on top for most of the half and Coulthirst had a shot saved by Bonham just after I arrived. Somewhat against the run of play Watford equalised when Hamilton-Forbes latched onto a loose ball and scored with a low drive across the keeper from the right.
Watford made two changes for the second half and got more stuck into the visitors, getting to grips in more ways than one with the opposition. This did not prevent Spurs from going in front again. Hawkins took a free kick from the right side just outside the area and floated it to the far post where Angol drew a save from Bonham. The ball was not cleared from the left corner of the pitch and Dombaxe was able to send in a low cross that McEvoy turned in at the far post.
The "Hornets" responded well and put pressure on Spurs, forcing errors until they were able to cross from the left to find Murray attacking the far post who levelled the scores. The home side now had the confidence to open up the play more and Granger had to save from Murray. A diagonal ball found Angol in space on the left and the Spurs striker took a couple of touches before shooting under Bonham. The keeper got a touch as it went under him which allowed Hoban to chest the ball away off the line.
Inglethorpe sent on Modeste for Yeboah to play at left back with Day moving into the centre. He also sent on Akindayini to play up front with Angol switching to the left flank to allow Munns to replace Hawkins in the middle. The home side went looking for a winner with Hamilton-Forbes firing over and Smith doing likewise. Coulthirst drove wide and Granger caught a long clearing ball from Hamilton-Forbes.
Angol headed over to win a corner and Tumwa cleared an effort from Akindayini off the line with the keeper beaten. A minute later Akindayini angled his shot just wide. Akubuine picked up a clearance and fired it back through a crowd of players for Granger to save going to his left. Smith drove his effort wide deep into added time but Spurs held firm.
Spurs are always given a hard time by Watford but came close to picking up all three points and coped well when the home side put them under a lot of pressure. The draw allows Leicester City to go above them in the group as they recorded a 5-0 victory over Bristol City.
Next saturday the Academy entertain MK Dons at Spurs Lodge. The Dons suffered an 11-3 defeat to Villa last week and went out of the Youth cup during the week. Having seen their U-16 side on Monday it would not be wise to write them off.
Ray
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