Under-18s slip to Villa defeat

Six goals in a busy second half at Hotspur Way saw our Under-18s fall to a 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime.

After a quiet first half in the Under-18 Premier League clash, our visitors stormed into a 4-0 lead with Charlie Farr, Aaron Ramsey, Brad Young and Mo Sylla all getting on the scoresheet. A late surge saw Dane Scarlett and Tarrelle Whittaker reduce the deficit in the closing stages.

Villa had started the game as they meant to go on and had two great opportunities to open the scoring within the first 10 minutes. First, on seven minutes, Ramsey thundered the ball off the bar from close range before Young had a gilt-edged chance from six yards out, but Kacper Kurylowicz read the striker's effort well and made a vital save. We did manage to stem the tide of the visitors' early forays into our box and then began to press forward in the game ourselves. With a quarter-of-an-hour gone, Chay Cooper had our first shot in anger which was diverted away from goal for a corner.

But that was our only opening in the first period as Villa remained the brighter of the two sides, especially down the right flank. Winger Kaine Kesler was the danger man for the visitors and, on 17 minutes, his burst of pace once again created another chance for his side. Kesler had broken at speed towards the byline before working his way into the box but, as he tried to find the far post with a chipped effort, Marqes Muir managed to get across to head the ball clear. In a quiet first half, that was the last opportunity of note until the 43^rd minute when another big chance fell the way of the visitors. This time, it was Farr who was picked out unmarked in the centre of the box but, with the goal at his mercy, he couldn’t keep his side-footed effort on target.

After the break, the encounter became much more open with both teams pushing to make the breakthrough. Dennis Cirkin nearly found that for us, only for his brave header from Cooper’s corner to be saved by Akos Onodi in Villa’s goal. It was our opponents, however, who opened the scoring as, after forward Ramsey saw his close-range effort well saved by Kurylowicz, Farr made no mistake on 61 minutes as he rifled the ball home. Five minutes later it was two. Having been thwarted by Kurylowicz moments earlier, Ramsey found a way past the keeper as he curled home from outside the box. The forward could have then doubled his tally but failed to keep his effort on target after latching onto the rebound following Young’s strike.

Looking for a way back, forwards J’Neil Bennett - making his first appearance of the season after injury - and Tarrelle Whittaker were brought on and the pair's introduction re-energised our attack, the former quickly drawing two good saves out of Onodi within minutes of entering the game. However, as we continued to struggle to find a way past the visitors, Villa grabbed their third on 74 minutes, Young finally getting himself on the scoresheet after he was released on the counter.

Despite conceding the third, we didn't give up in our efforts to find a consolation and nearly had that once again through the lively Bennett. However, once more, Onodi was a match to the substitute's curling attempt. Three minutes later, the visitors had their fourth. Ramsey turned provider, playing in substitute Sylla to slot home on 81 minutes.

We did eventually find a way past Onodi though. A mistake by the keeper saw him push Kion Etete’s strike on 83 minutes into the path of Scarlett, who reacted quickest to turn the ball home from close range. But, with the way the encounter was going, Villa could have immediately added their fifth, only for Kurylowicz to come out on top in a battle of wits with Young. A let-off at the back saw us move quickly up the other end and, with quick thinking, we were able to further reduce the deficit on 88 minutes. Dermi Lusala cleverly flicked the ball over the defence for Whittaker to run onto and the substitute did the rest, lashing the ball through the legs of the Villa keeper. In the final minute, we could have made it 4-3 but Onodi managed to keep hold of Bennett’s low drive.