Premier League U-18 Cup Final 2018
        Chelsea Training Ground, Cobham
          Sunday 18th March 2018, 2pm.

           CHELSEA     v     SPURS
         (All Blue)       (White/Blue)
           4-2-3-1          4-1-4-1

             2(2)             0(0)

          Karlo Ziger  1  Jonathan De Bie(C)
        Tariq Lamptey  2  Tariq Hinds
      Marcel Lavinier  3  Jamie Reynolds
           Marc Guehi  4  Jamie Bowden
         Clinton Mola  5  Timothy Eyoma
     Conor Gallagher(C)6  Brooklyn Lyons-Foster
         Tariq Uwakwe  7  Dilan Markanday
        Billy Gilmour  8  Oliver Skipp
        Charlie Brown  9  Troy Parrot
    George McCeachran 10  Phoenix Patterson
        Juan Castillo 11  J'neil Lloyd-Bennett

          Jack Wakely 12  Jonathan Dinzeyi
                          (6)27Mins
          Nicolas Tie 13  Joshua Oluwayemi
     Martell 
     Taylor-Crossdale 14  Paris Maghoma
            (8)70Mins     (4)59Mins
       Daishawn Redan 15  Rodel Richards
                          (8)75Mins.
         Tino Anjorin 16  Armando Shashoua
           (11)82Mins

Scorer:-
         Brown 17, 45

Booked:-
                          Hinds 36(Foul)

Coaches:-
          Jody Morris     Scott Parker

Referee:– Daniel Austin
Assistants:– Charlie Acton & Andrew Hickman
Fourth Official:– Lee Dyson

Spurs travelled to Cobham on a cold day where the pitch had been cleared of snow for the third meeting with the "Blues" this season. Having been held to a 4-4 draw at home in the league, Spurs lost 2-0 in the FA Youth Cup at Stevenage. Spurs reached this final having finished one of the two best second placed teams in the group stage before beating Liverpool 4-0 in the quarter-final and Arsenal 4-1 in the semi-final. Chelsea topped their group before beating the other second placed team Sunderland 2-1 in the quarter-final and Everton in the semi-final 1-0.

Spurs lined up with De Bie in goal behind Eyoma and Lyons-Foster with Hinds at right back and Reynolds on the left. Bowden anchored the midfield with Skipp and Patterson ahead of him. They were flanked by Markandy on the right and Lloyd-Bennett on the left in support of Parrot up front. U-16 player Parrot was signed last year from Irish club Belverdere despite interest from Chelsea, where he was known as the next “Robbie Keane”.

Spurs attacked the North end in the first half but were soon on the defensive as the home side had the better of the game. Uwakwe drew an early save and then won a penalty ten minutes later as he got into the area on the right chasing a weak back-pass with De Bie out to win the ball. Gallagher stepped up to take the kick but De Bie guessed right and saved, diving to his right.

The relief did not last long as Brown netted from the six yard box,after a free kick was not cleared. Brown got through to hit the post under challenge from Lyons-Foster with De Bie saving his follow up. Lyons-Foster had to be replaced shortly after due to injury with Dinzeyi taking his place. Hinds was booked when he lost the ball to Castillo and fouled him to stop him getting away. Lamptey got forward to draw a save before Chelsea increased their lead at the end of the half. Gilmour played Brown through the middle to get his second of the game.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw the home side continue to attack at pace. Brown played in McCeachran to fire wide for a corner from which Mola headed over. Spurs made their second change when Maghoma came on for Bowden. Dinzeyi headed wide from a free kick before Lamptey fired wide. Taylor-Crossdale replaced Brown and drew a save a minute after coming on, but Chelsea began to consolidate defensively looking to see out the game but still dangerous on the break.

Spurs last change was Richards replacing Lloyd-Bennett as Spurs looked for a goal. McCeachran played in Taylor-Crossdale to fire wide for a corner. Anjorin also shot wide from Lamptey's cross. Parrot was getting more into the game as Spurs were having more possession but he had little luck in front of goal. Anjorin had the last chance of the game when he drew a save from De Bie.

The home side were well worth their win to become the first holders of this trophy as they were too strong for Spurs who missed the league's top scorer Reo Griffiths. His stand-in Parrot took a while to get to grips with the game, getting more involved in the second half. He did have a penalty shout in the first half which was waved away by the referee.

Ray

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