View: Tottenham Under-18s demonstrate mental strength with crucial win over Chelsea Under-18s
One week after losing 4-3 to Chelsea Under-18s in the Premier League Cup, Tottenham Under-18s avenged their defeat and won by the exact same scoreline at Cobham in the U18 Premier League South.
On the back of such a frustrating loss, many teams would have rolled over and felt sorry for themselves. However, not this Tottenham team. Their previous loss against Chelsea brought to an end a streak of six straight wins and the prospect of playing the same team a week later could have resulted in the same outcome.
Twice Spurs had to come from behind to secure maximum points and the result – and more importantly, the manner of the result – was a true testament to the young side’s mentality.
Heading into the top-of-the-table clash, Spurs were in first place ahead of Chelsea on goals scored, but by the end of the day, they had extended their lead at the summit of the Under-18 Premier League South to three points and also exercised their demons against the Blues.
After half an hour played it looked as if recent history was set to repeat itself as the hosts scored twice within four minutes to find themselves two goals to the good, first through Somto Boniface and then moments later through Donnel Mcneilly.
At this stage, it would have been easy for Spurs to feel sorry for themselves and play with their tails tucked between their legs. Instead, they did the exact opposite and stood up to the challenge. It was one of the Under-18s’ stars who got them back into the game three minutes before the break, as Mikey Moore produced a wonderful lobbed finish from distance over Chelsea shot-stopper Luke Campbell.
Goalscorer turned provider in the 56th minute as Moore clipped an outside-of-the-foot pass across the box for the arriving Oliver Irow to sweep home and level the contest. However, moments after Damola Ajayi had struck the post, Chelsea retook the lead through Tyrique George with just over 20 minutes to play.
Once again, it would have been easy at this stage for Spurs to give in after having come back from two behind just to see their opponents retake the lead. Instead, late drama ensued at Cobham.
With 84 minutes on the clock, Leo Black made it 3-3 and ten minutes later, in one of the final actions of the game, Ajayi netted the winner, sparking scenes of jubilation among the Spurs squad.
It was the second 4-3 scoreline played out between these two teams within the space of one week, however, this time it was Tottenham who showed resilience to come out on top, and Stuart Lewis will hope this acts as a springboard for his side to rediscover their winning ways.
In other Tottenham news, legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has had his say on Spurs’ title chances.