Spurs 4-0 Reading (U18s) - report from Hotspur Way

Our Under-18s produced a fantastic display to score four goals and keep a clean sheet against Reading, despite playing for nearly an hour with 10 men.

Jon Dinzeyi’s 37th-minute dismissal for a second yellow card seemingly left us with an uphill task in the Under-18 Premier League at Hotspur Way on Saturday and, with the Royals showing their usual physical strength and looking a threat in the air, you wondered how much we’d miss the towering height of the central defender.

But we continued to dominate the game with Reo Griffiths firing us ahead just before half-time before going on to complete his second hat-trick in as many Saturdays with the last kick of the game.

Lively winger Jneil Bennett also got on the scoresheet with our third goal in the 82nd minute, shortly after an excellent goal-line clearance from Brooklyn Lyons-Foster that typified a fine display from a revamped back four after the interval.

Action summary

Dinzeyi side-footed wide early on while Reading’s Jack Nolan and Bennett for us both coaxed saves out of the opposing goalkeepers. Griffiths also had a strong shout for a penalty waved away after he went down under the challenge of Josh Brooking in the box, but we were left with it all to do shortly after the half-hour mark when the referee deemed two Dinzeyi tackles worthy of yellow cards in the space of six minutes and brandished the red card at the defender.

Holding midfielder Jamie Bowden dropped back into central defence and we forged ahead in spite of the setback two minutes before the break when Dilan Markanday played the ball down the right for Griffiths to run clean through and there was no stopping the marauding striker as he skipped inside Brooking and fired beyond goalkeeper Jokull Andresson.

Coach Scott Parker switched Tariq Hinds from left-back to the right and introduced Jamie Reynolds off the bench at half-time – and that paid dividends as we played out brilliantly from the back.

Above: Jamie Reynolds stays composed under pressure.

Andresson saved from Griffiths but while Reading substitute Claudio Osario fired over just seconds after coming on, we were always on the front foot and doubled our advantage on 64 minutes. Reynolds sent Griffiths scurrying down the left channel, he held off his marker, turned inside and took a moment to assess his options before drilling between a couple of retreating defenders to find the net himself.

Visiting skipper Ethan Coleman tried taking things into his own hands in a bid to revive his side, forcing Jonathan De Bie to tip over the bar with a fierce strike from long range and then powering a header towards goal from the resulting corner, only to be denied by an excellent goal-line clearance from centre-half Lyons-Foster.

But it was game over on 82 minutes when Reynolds emerged from a melee on the edge of Reading’s area with the ball and slid it in down the left for Bennett to fire in, despite Andresson getting a hand to it.

And after a period of sustained pressure with our players looking to work the ball in to the feet of Griffiths, the striker finally found an opportunity to complete his treble in the second minute of added time when Bennett beat his marker with a step-over on the right and slid across the face of goal, allowing his team-mate a tap-in.

Coach Scott Parker said

“It was a really good result. Obviously we were disappointed with the sending-off, we thought it was going to be tricky but the lads were superb today in their attitude and even with 10 men it still felt like we dominated at times, so it was pleasing. We played Reading early on in the season and they gave us a really tough game and again today, but I just felt like we took our opportunities really well. They were a physical team but even after Jon got sent off, we managed the game really well.

“A clean sheet was key as well as the goals and we had some good performances – Reo scored a hat-trick and it was a big, strong performance from him, Jamie Bowden dropped back and did a good job in defence along with Brook (Lyons-Foster), Tariq Hinds and all the boys at the back. It would be harsh for me to single out anyone because everybody performed really well.”

Team line-up

Spurs U18s: De Bie (c), Clarke (Reynolds 46), Hinds, Bowden, Dinzeyi, Lyons-Foster, Markanday (P Maghoma 55), A Shashoua, Griffiths, Patterson (Richards 81), Bennett. Substitute (not used): Statham.

Up next

After a fantastic week in which we’ve beaten Arsenal to reach the Under-18 Premier League Cup final, seen off Monaco in a penalty shootout to make it through to the quarter-finals of the Under-19 UEFA Youth League and now beaten Reading, the players will return to the training field ahead of their next game next Saturday – a league trip to West Ham United, kick-off 11am.