Under-18s earn battling point amidst goalkeeper and penalty drama
Our Under-18s dug in to emerge with a creditable point from a dramatic game at Reading on Wednesday after playing for over an hour with 10 men, which led to centre-half Cayon Hanson being deployed as an emergency goalkeeper.
A madcap first half saw us miss a penalty through Reiss Elliott-Parris, have keeper Mikel Jack sent off, fall behind when his replacement Hanson couldn’t keep out Matthias Ojo’s corner but then recover to lead 2-1 at the break via two more penalties, both converted in identical fashion by Oliver Boast.
The hosts took advantage of our predicament to equalise shortly after the restart when Christian Cary nodded in from close range but our depleted side battled resolutely for the rest of the game, Tyler Tingey heading away a series of deliveries into the danger zone and Hanson making some admirable stops to secure a third 2-2 draw with the Royals’ Under-18s this season.
There was little sign of the drama to come at Bearwood Park when Boast – a lively influence on the right in the opening exchanges – won a penalty inside four minutes after Reading goalkeeper Jacob Borgnis was adjudged to have brought him down in the box. Elliott-Parris, though, blasted the spot-kick wide and from there, things began to unravel.
Under-15s goalkeeper Jack, so impressive in Saturday’s Under-16 Premier League Cup final success at Fulham and drafted in for his Under-18 Premier League debut in Berkshire with all three of our regular stoppers at this level unavailable, tipped a snap-shot from T’Shay St Louis over the bar but was later penalised for handball outside the box as he dived at the feet of Tyler Adjei and was given his marching orders.
With no goalkeeper on the bench and only 26 minutes on the watch, coach Jamie Carr turned to centre-half Hanson, who remarkably was also pressed into makeshift goalkeeper duties while playing away to Reading at Under-16 level last season, to don the gloves while introducing Ezra Agyekum off the bench as an extra defender. His first action was to impressively gather in Ojo’s free-kick but the stand-in stopper was beaten by the same player on 32 minutes – despite getting a touch on his corner kick, he couldn’t prevent the set-piece from sailing in at the far post.
Unabashed, we still managed to get forward and just five minutes later were handed a lifeline when Elliott-Parris was fouled in the box by Borgnis and Boast drilled home the resulting spot-kick, despite the keeper diving the right way. And incredibly, on the stroke of half-time, we went in front as Armend Muslika won another penalty after a challenge by Ryan Beacroft, Boast duly firing into the same corner from 12 yards before wheeling away in celebration.
To their credit, the Royals needed only three minutes of the second period to draw level as another dangerous Ojo corner into the six-yard box was headed home by Cary and we rode our luck for a spell, Ryan Zie, St Louis and Scofield Lonmeni all going close for the home side before Hanson denied St Louis with an impressive save to his right.
Hanson made several more stops on his line – including whacking away a couple of shots with his legs in true centre-half style – while Elliott-Parris nearly fashioned a winner when he robbed Borgnis in an attacking area, but the Reading keeper did enough to prevent the striker from getting a shot in towards the empty net. Harley Irish headed across goal and wide for the hosts and Zie was twice denied by Hanson in the last few minutes, while one final half-chance for us went begging, youngster George Jobling – on for his Under-18s debut – seeing a shot deflected wide. Much like the two matches we had with the Royals at Hotspur Way earlier in the season, it was a truly entertaining outing.
‘Some individuals really rolled their sleeves up’
Coach Jamie felt the players’ willingness to battle in the face of adversity was one of the most pleasing elements to come out of the game. He reflected: “At half-time it’s very easy to go under, even more so after conceding so early in the second half, but the lads showed a willingness to do the other side of the game, so from a developmental point of view it was probably one of the most useful games of the season where you’re experiencing something that’s just so out of the ordinary and we saw some individual performances really stand out in those moments, which was exactly what we wanted to see. The team performance was one thing, but the most pleasing aspect was that some individuals really rolled their sleeves up and found a way to perform well.
“We always had chances throughout the game – even when we had 10 men, we looked a threat, whether that was through ball-carrying or forward running from our wingers. It was disappointing not to take the lead early when we had our penalty, but we carried a threat throughout the whole game, which was important because it helped to take the heat off the back line for certain spells.”
Line-up
Spurs: Jack, Sandiford, Adewole, Hanson, Tingey (c), Wellspring, Boast (Salter 82), Thomas, Elliott-Parris, Glancy (Agyekum 30), Muslika (Jobling 74). Substitute (not used): Beckles.