Spurs under 16’s 3-1 Cambridge United: (match report)

On Tuesday night I went to the Cambs glass stadium to watch our under 15/16’s take on Cambridge United at the U’s Abbey stadium. It was a bright and dominant performance from Spurs as they dominated the opposition in front of a crowd of over 600, the Pochettino philosophy clearly implanted in their style of play as they out done the U’s in every aspect of the game limiting them only to set piece chances. With no team sheets being given out on the night, frustratingly a lot of my report consists of players numbers, as I was only able to positively identify the following players with the rest, being unsure of: Kacper Kurylowicz, Luis Binks, Malachi Walcott, Enoch Asante, Noni Madeuke (10)?, Josh Gray?, Harvey White?, Dennis Cirkin? Unused subs: Kane Patterson and Rafferty Pedder. It was a very young Spurs side which was without highly rated Irish forward Troy Parrott who is away at the victory shield with his country. Their seemed to be a couple of under 14’s involved in the game, and their was one player who came on as a CAM (looked very intelligent) that could have been no more than 13. It was a very lively start by Spurs who were on the front foot from the minute go, playing some nice attacking football. Our number 11 put an effort just wide of goal after receiving a cross. The pacy wide man was causing a lot of trouble for the Cambridge players early on. A great chance followed Spurs’ 11 powered past a couple of Cambridge defenders down the left before crossing for 10 (Madueke I think) whose powerful effort was spectacularly thwarted by the goalkeeper. Spurs continued to pressurise a nervy Cambridge side, 11 curling an effort narrowly wide moments later.

Number 11 (who was excellent all game) continued to trouble Cambridge after he robbed them of possession inside the area before jinking his way past a couple of players, only to slip at a vital time. Spurs were absolutely dominating, they looked the more fitter and livelier side inside the first quarter of an hour, as they played the ball out from the back, with the composed duo of Binks and Walcott influential in this side of their game. A good low effort from Madeuke on the edge of the area had the keeper scrambling, he spilt the effort at the first attempt but then managed to clear the loose ball. Spurs came their closest to the breaking the deadlock after 4’s (White) long ball into the area was dropped by the Cambridge keeper. The alert Asante pounced, smashing the ball against the crossbar, before testing the keeper again seconds later with a powerful header. Binks also went close with a header minutes later, as the home side struggled to get the ball outside of their half. A great challenge from Spurs’ number 2 occurred at the other end as he snuffed out danger, he was brilliant all game both going forward and at defending. Another brilliant attacking move from Spurs ended in the keeper being forced into making a comfortable save as Cambridge continued to survive. Cambridge came close with a free kick, but Spurs were to shatter any confidence they had built up going forward, when they opened the scoring on 37 minutes courtesy of a stunning long range strike from White.

His free kick was initially blocked but the midfielder hammered home the rebound into the bottom right corner of the net, brilliant technique! Spurs continued their hold on the game, Noni Madueke almost doubling their lead when his free kick flew narrowly wide of goal, as Spurs’ fluent attacking football continued to outwit the home side. We should have doubled our advantage shortly after the restart, but 7 who was leaning back, could only manage to fire over the crossbar from close range. Cambridge then threatened at the other end when their winger curled narrowly wide following a counter attacking move which had exploited our defence. However, any fears of a comeback were put aside when Spurs doubled their advantage when 7 prodded home from the resulting corner kick to expose a tired looking Cambridge defence. Luis Binks got a vital head on the ball to clear a dangerous free kick at the other end, as the home side continued to lack that cutting edge. Spurs on the other case were looking for their third playing some nice football in the process, the newly introduced number 12 at the heart of things with his intricate play and quick feet. Cambridge began to grow more into the game and created some good chances, Walcott producing a good block to deny a Cambridge player. Everyone inside the Abbey stadium thought Spurs had got their third of the game when the potent Madeuke unleashed a thunderbolt of an effort on the edge of the area, which ended up coming off the underside of the bar and bouncing clear. There were numerous good counter attacking moves produced by Spurs as the game progressed. But the game was to be thrown on its head when the home side pulled back an unexpected goal. After converting a cross at Kurylowicz’s far post, but any chance of a comeback was swiftly ended by Spurs minutes later when Madeuke regained our two goal cushion.

Capping off a lovely attacking move with a precise finish to tuck the ball inside the bottom corner of the net. A trio of Spurs players including Madeuke lined up to create an orchestrated pose in front of the home fans as the young lads soaked up the atmosphere. Centre forward Enoch Asante almost put the icing on the cake minutes later when he weaved his way past a couple of Cambridge defenders before eventually forcing a top save from the keeper. Spurs saw out the remaining minutes with real ease and were much deserving of their 3-1 victory in what was a brilliant team performance from a talented young side. The whole Spurs team looked very promising. COYS

Player reviews: (Some players I’m not sure of*)
Luis Binks: So composed in his play but very decisive in his defending alongside fellow centre half Walcott, his long range passing ability was also very good.
Malachi Walcott: Similarly as composed, Walcott is a really talented centre half who has represented his country at youth level. On my second time seeing him play, I was really impressed with his reading of the game, focus and overall defending. Also liked to play the ball out from the back.
Kacper Kurylowicz: Made one good save, but other than that he wasn’t called into action much.
Harvey White*: Very tidy midfielder (a little like Skipp in style of play) took his goal brilliantly.
Noni Madeuke*: Excellent performance from the number 10, brilliant with the ball at his feet. The skilful Madeuke who has already featured for our under 18’s, possess brilliant close ball control and a low centre of gravity, he really ran the show against Cambridge. He was also very creative going forward and showed good strength, managing to shrug off players on numerous occasions.
Enoch Asante: Really like the look of the young centre forward, he lead the line well and was unlucky not to score.