Under-18s see off Boro in FA Youth Cup

Our Under-18s battled hard to secure victory over Middlesbrough in the third round of the FA Youth Cup at Hotspur Way on Sunday lunchtime.

Trailing early on after Frankie Coulson capitalised on a lapse in concentration at the back, we played our way back into the game and levelled on the stroke of half-time when Luca Williams-Barnett set up Reiss Elliott-Parris to poke beyond advancing goalkeeper Oliver Lloyd.

Callum Olusesi - playing his first Under-18s game of the season having featured primarily for the Under-21s this term - finished from close range after a good run from Williams-Barnett to give us a deserved lead 11 minutes into the second half, but Boro always carried a threat on the break and levelled through Finlay Cartwright just beyond the hour mark.

We stayed positive amidst swirling wind and rain, though, and after Williams-Barnett was impeded in the visitors' box, Tynan Thompson sent an inch-perfect penalty into the bottom corner to give us a 3-2 win and send us marching into round four.

The conditions were always going to be a factor and goalkeeper Dylan Thompson was pressed into a couple of interventions in the early going as the visitors looked to make a strong start. Ronny Moncur grazed the top of the bar with our first attempt at goal, but a mistake at the back allowed Boro captain Coulson to give them the lead on the 20-minute mark.

We soon began to dictate the play, though, with Tynan Thompson emerging as a threatening outlet on the left, firing into the side netting and then seeing another angled attempt blocked behind for a corner. Both sides had near misses but we were starting to take a firm grip on the game and after Williams-Barnett had an effort ruled out for handball, we made it 1-1 in the 45th minute when the latter's pass through the middle of the pitch allowed striker Elliott-Parris to run on and convert past the advancing Lloyd.

Cartwright found time and space in our box but wastefully fired straight at Dylan Thompson at the start of the second half, but after we threatened from a couple of corners, Williams-Barnett laid the foundations for us to take the lead with a good solo run which ended with Olusesi sweeping in from close range as we finally hit the front with 56 minutes played.

Stubborn Middlesbrough didn't relent, though, and after substitute Daniel James saw his effort saved at the near post, a long ball down the left from defender Oliver Martin allowed Tyler Smith to square for Cartwright to fire them back level in the 63rd minute.

All-action Jun'ai Byfield got forward from centre-back a couple of times and almost extended our lead, dragging a shot across goal and narrowly wide before seeing a header from a corner cleared from almost on the line. But with 10 minutes remaining, Williams-Barnett was fouled from behind by James as he entered the area and Tynan Thompson sent a pinpoint shot into the bottom corner of the net to restore our lead, which we held onto maturely in the face of late Middlesbrough pressure to secure our progress into the next round.

Match data

Goals: Spurs - Elliott-Parris 45, Olusesi 56, T Thompson 80 (pen); Middlesbrough - Coulson 20, Cartwright 63.

Yellow card: Middlesbrough - James 68.

Referee: Joseph Gray.

Venue: Hotspur Way.

Weather: Strong winds, rain, seven degrees.