Bowden treble sees off Liverpool

A hat-trick from Jamie Bowden helped our Under-23s to a commanding 4-0 victory over Liverpool at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon.

Rodel Richards had got us on our way against the Reds as he slotted home on 20 minutes before Bowden dispatched two quick-fire penalties at the start of the second half, then nodded in a third in stoppage time to round off an enjoyable outing for our youngsters.

Both teams, however, finished the encounter with 10 men as Liverpool’s Morgan Boyes was dismissed on 54 minutes for his foul on Armando Shashoua, which led to our first penalty, before Malachi Fagan-Walcott received his marching orders on 72 minutes after he was deemed the last man when he prevented the visitors from countering.

We took the game to the Reds in the opening exchanges, quickly getting ourselves on top and were inches away from taking the lead within the opening 10 minutes through Phoenix Patterson as the winger cut inside and thundered an effort off the crossbar from just outside the box. Tashan Oakley-Boothe then tried his luck from a similar position eight minutes later, but the midfielder’s strike spun away off target.

Our positive start to the game soon paid off though as on 20 minutes, we found a way through. Tariq Hinds spotted the run of Richards and the striker timed his movement to perfection as he beat the offside trap before slotting home past the onrushing Caoimhin Kelleher. That lead should have then been doubled just a minute later, only for Kelleher to produce a superb piece of goalkeeping to first keep out Shashoua from distance before jumping straight back up to block Dilan Markanday’s effort on the rebound.

We were nearly made to pay for that wasted opportunity as the Reds went very close to levelling the scores with 37 minutes on the clock. Against the run of play, the visitors burst down the field, Tom Hill escaped unmarked in the box and, when he was picked out from the right, he flicked the ball towards the far post. Yet, Josh Oluwayemi was a match for the effort, diving to his left to tip away the goalbound shot and maintain our advantage going into the break.

Within 10 minutes of the restart, we doubled our lead. Shashoua was released through on goal but as he was about to strike the ball, he was brought down inside the box by Morgan Boyes. The referee pointed to the spot, produced a red card for the Reds' defender and, from the spot, Bowden duly stepped up and sent the ball straight down the middle, opening his account for the day. Just five minutes later, the midfielder added his second as we were awarded another penalty. This time it was Markanday who was upended by Pedro Chirivella in the box and Bowden made no mistake, dispatching the ball into the left-hand corner of the net.

For much of the game, we had remained untroubled at the back with Luis Binks and Malachi Fagan-Walcott looking assured at the heart of our defence – it was the second time the pair had faced Liverpool this week after also lining up against the Reds on Monday in the Under-18s' FA Youth Cup win. In this Premier League 2 clash, however, their partnership was broken up on 72 minutes as Fagan-Walcott was dismissed. Liverpool had looked to move quickly and hit us on the break, but the defender ended their progress through the middle, adjudged to have brought down his man. The referee deemed the defender to have been the last man and, thus, gave him his marching orders, evening up the numbers on both sides to 10 apiece.

Despite the dismissal, we continued to control the game and in the final minute of added time, we managed to grab our fourth of the afternoon. Markanday provided the assist, clipping the ball across the box to pick out Bowden who nodded in to complete his hat-trick and wrap up a pleasing afternoon for us.

It makes it back-to-back wins in Premier League 2 for our Under-23s and consecutive triumphs against teams from Merseyside, following our impressive 3-1 win away at Everton a fortnight ago.

Key moment

In the end, we ran away with the game having scored four without reply but it could have been an entirely different story had Oluwayemi not kept out Hill’s strike at the end of the first half.

The forward had been picked out in the box by a searching cross from the right and, with his first touch, deftly directed the ball towards the far corner of the goal, but Oluwayemi managed to produce the necessary reflexes to tip it away from danger.

Coach’s view

Under-23s coach Wayne Burnett was delighted with his side’s defensive performance and is hoping the players can now build on the win ahead of a tough trip to Manchester City coming up: “I think getting the clean sheet was the most pleasing thing,” Wayne explained. “I said to the players before the game that the last time we had managed one was actually the first game of the season when we won 4-0 away to Liverpool, so it was really pleasing to get that having failed to do that on numerous occasions this season. It was a good defensive performance from the whole team, but it has to be though, you can’t just defend with a back four.

“We started off the season really well and then we dropped points in games that we shouldn’t have. We’ve not played as well as we can do but then we’ve just beaten Everton away – a really tough place to go and a place we rarely win at – and we played very well there. I felt we played better away at Everton than we did at home today against Liverpool but it's pleasing that we’ve got back-to-back wins and it’s something that we can build on. We have a tough game before the Christmas break as we go away to Manchester City, which is always a tough place to go, but who’s to say we can’t keep pushing now and get closer to the top?"

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Richards 20, Bowden 55 (pen), 60 (pen), 90+4.

Yellow cards: Liverpool – Christie-Davies 47, Chirivella 59, Clayton 90.

Red cards: Spurs – Fagan-Walcott 72; Liverpool – Boyes 54.

Referee: Scott Jackson.

Venue: Hotspur Way.

Weather: Light cloud, light rain, 10 degrees.

Attendance: 169.