Spurs U18s 3-0 Leicester City U18s
Goalkeeper Harry Voss kept Leicester City at bay by saving a late penalty in a comfortable 3-0 win for our Under-18s on Saturday.
The stopper dived to his left to palm away Kyle Bailey’s spot kick in, shortly after Connor Ogilvie had found the net at the other end to put us out of sight.
Ogilvie’s goal followed a brace from Daniel Akindayini, with the big striker being denied a hat-trick by the woodwork late in the second half.
The opening stages of the game yielded few chances for either side, with a speculative Harry Winks shot that Foxes goalkeeper Liam Sharpe gathered easily proving to be our only goal-bound effort early on.
A second Winks effort was blocked by Shane Dineen on 19 minutes before a good chance for us to break the deadlock went begging. Winks took a corner and Ogilvie peeled away from his marker at the near post to control the ball inside the box, but his tame shot was comfortable for Sharpe.
The Foxes then sprung into life having been penned in their own half for a period, twice hitting the woodwork in the space of two minutes.
First Simone Stankivicius flicked a shot from Bailey’s right wing cross against the post, before Ben Chilwell’s up-and-under free kick from the left caught the wind and was kept out by a combination of the crossbar and the outstretched fingertips of Voss.
We went back on the attack in the 36th minute and again Ogilvie met Winks’ corner at the near post, but this time his header was just off target.
Oduwa switched wings with Emmanuel Sonupe as the first half entered its latter stages, and the change paid immediate dividends with Oduwa setting up Akindayini to open the scoring on 40 minutes. Oduwa cut into the box on the right, lost possession but quickly regained it with some clever footwork and set up Akindayini to find the far corner of the net.
Chilwell saw a fierce shot blocked by a mass of bodies at the edge of our 18 yard box shortly before the interval, but any hopes Leicester had of finding a leveller after the restart suffered a hammer blow as Akindayini doubled his tally with the second half just a minute old.
Again it was Oduwa who invaded the box, this time from the left side, and he squared for the striker to tap home.
Stankivicius tried a shot for Leicester on 58 minutes but he was leaning backwards as he pulled the trigger and consequently his effort went over the bar. Danny Rowe then drilled towards goal two minutes later, but this time Ogilvie was there to get in the way.
Will Miller sent Sonupe racing down the right channel in the 64th minute but Akindayini couldn’t bring his cut-back under control and the Foxes cleared their lines, while the striker squandered another chance to complete a would-be treble when he skewed a shot at Sharpe after being played in by Miller.
Sharpe did well to smother a long-range Ogilvie shot with a gust of wind looking like it might intervene to our advantage, while Miller couldn’t quite steer Oduwa’s low cross inside the far post.
Our third goal arrived on 79 minutes when Ogilvie fired inside the near post with his right foot after collecting a pass on the left from substitute Anthony Georgiou and working himself into a shooting position.
Oduwa whipped a free-kick over the bar as we chased a fourth, but our clean sheet was put in jeopardy when Kane Vincent-Young dragged Andre Olukanmi back in the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Bailey stepped up but Voss was equal to the kick, confidently palming the ball away as he dived to his left.
With the Foxes still reeling from the missed penalty, we broke forward quickly and Lloyd Ross found Akindayini with an infield pass, but the striker was denied his hat-trick when he prodded the ball against the post.
Spurs:
Voss, Vincent-Young, Pritchard, Lesniak, Carter-Vickers, Ogilvie, Sonupe (Georgiou 71), Winks (Walkes 75), Akindayini, Miller (Ross 75), Oduwa.
Sub (not used):
Priestley (GK).