Premier Academy U-18 League 2013-4
          Colney Training Ground, Norwich
         Saturday 5th October 2013, 12 noon

         NORWICH CITY    v     SPURS
        (Yellow/Green)       (All Blue)
            4-3-3              4-3-3

             2(0)               4(3)

           Marko Cancar  1  Luke McGee
           Michee Efete  2  Kyle Walker-Peters
       Christian Scales  3  Connor Ogilvie
              Ray Grant  4  Filip Lesniak(C)
              Ben Wyatt  5  Cameron Carter-Vickers
            Kevin Lokko  6  Christian Maghoma
       Cameron Norman(C) 7  Nathan Oduwa
    Jamie Eaton-Collins  8  Joshua Onomah
            Rhys Browne  9  Daniel Akindayini
         Harrison Heath 10  William Miller
           Cameron King 11  Anthony Georgiou

            Oliver Cole 12  Anton Walkes
              (4)81Mins     (2)66Mins
        Aston Oxborough 13
           Jake Simpson 14  Cy Goddard
             (10)61Mins     (10)66Mins
            Ben Burgess 15  Shayon Harrison
              (3)46Mins     (11)52Mins
           Koli Boateng 16

Scorers:-
           King 76          Maghoma 2
           Browne 90+1      Georgiou 32
                            Oduwa 33, 64

Booked:- 
                            Lesniak 55(Foul)

Coaches:-  
           N. Adams         J. McDermott 

Referee:– P. Venables
Assistants:- M. Carpenter & L. Venables

I arrived at Norwich's training ground in time for the start of the second half, having been held up by the closure of the A11 and mis-reading the map. I was put in the picture regarding the events of the first half, and with the help of the Norwich website can provide a fairly complete report. It was an overcast day for the trip to Norfolk for the only unbeaten Spurs side who were seeking to maintain their 100% record. Norwich are mid-table with three wins and three draws from seven games while their U-21 side beat Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Spurs lined up with Carter-Vickers and Maghoma at the back with Walker-Peters at right back and Ogilvie on the left. Lesniak was back in his usual position in front of the defence with Onomah and Miller in midfield. Akindayini led the line with Oduwa on the right and Georgiou on the left.

Spurs defended the south end in the first half and took an early lead when the canaries failed to clear their box and Maghoma drove home. Georgiou struck a post before the home side had their first chance when Eaton-Collins just failed to reach Browne's cross. Cancar saved from Georgiou before the winger got on the end of a pass from Akindayini to increase Spurs lead. A minute later and it was three when Oduwa finished a counter-attack. Grant hit a post from a free kick before the end of the half.

City made one change for the start of the second half with Burgess replacing left back Scales playing at right back. It was Burgess who got a head to a corner early in the half but it had no power. Spurs made their first change early with Harrison replacing Georgiou to work the right side, allowing Oduwa to switch to the left.

Lesniak went into the ref's book for a fifty-fifty challenge which was deemed late. Grant fired over from the free kick. With the home defence playing close attention to Oduwa, Ogilvie was able to make good runs down the left drawing a save from the keeper on one. They were so worried by Oduwa that two defenders crashed into each other trying to tackle him. I found out from Andy Porter that when this happens and the players need treatment they do not need to leave the pitch when the game is restarted.

Norwich needed to keep all their players on the pitch as Spurs continued to attack mainly down the left using Oduwa. Carter-Vickers came out of the back, shaking off two or three tackles before playing the ball out to Harrison on the right touchline. The young striker hit a shot/cross that dipped just under the bar forcing Cancar to push it over for a corner.

Miller hit the crossbar with an effort following a cross from the left. Another attacking run by Ogilvie resulted in Cancar pushing his shot wide of the far post where Harrison just failed to make contact. Ogilvie got down the left again, linking with Miller who put in a low cross which Oduwa turned in from a couple of yards for his second and Spurs' fourth.

That was the signal for Spurs to shut up shop and they made two changes. Walkes replaced Walker-Peters at right back and Goddard took over from Miller, dropping a little deeper. Spurs still tried to break and Oduwa fired wide before Norwich (finding more space in the middle third) began to push forward looking for a goal.

Norman crossed to the far post where Eaton-Collins headed the ball back for King to score with a low drive. This gave the home side a lift and they continued to push for another which came in added time. Spurs were put under pressure with players in the area and Browne forced his way between two defenders lifting the ball over McGee.

It was another good win to keep the 100% run going. I expect the coaches will be annoyed that they conceded two goals in a commanding performance. Oduwa was again too much of a handful for the defenders and he could have had a penalty when he was clearly pushed over in the area in the second half. Spurs are a point behind Fulham in the southern group with two games in hand, while Chelsea are two points behind in third having played a game more. Next week Spurs are at home, with West Ham the visitors.

Ray

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