Spurs 2-2 Everton U18s - John's verdict

John McDermott held Everton up as “one of the toughest opponents we’ve played this year” after our Under-18s recovered from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with the Toffees.

Both sides scored a penalty apiece in Saturday’s clash – Harry Winks on target for us – and, although a third spot kick was missed by Filip Lesniak, Cameron Carter-Vickers netted from the rebound as the points were shared in the Barclays Under-18 Premier League.

The result leaves our youngsters needing just one more point from their final three games to be mathematically certain of clinching first place in the league’s southern section – and co-incidentally a play-off semi-final against Everton.

Academy Manager John was pleased with aspects of our performance at the weekend – likening the test to those we faced at last week’s Under-19 Champions Trophy in Dusseldorf.

“I thought the first half was very similar to the European games that we played last week in that it was played at a high technical and tactical level between two very good teams that both wanted to dominate the ball,” John said.

“Everton were one of the toughest opponents we’ve played this year. They exposed any losses of concentration but, while we went in 2-1 down at the break, I thought we dominated play in the second half.

“The game was extremely open as both teams went for the win. We had an awful lot of pressure to try and get a third goal but overall, in spite of a plethora of yellow cards and penalties, I thought the game was played in an outstanding spirit by two sets of very, very good players.”