WHAT HAPPENED
Our under-18s’ five-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
Full of confidence at the top of the table, we made a dream start to the game when Folarin Balogun opened the scoring inside three minutes.
Sam Greenwood received the ball on the left wing and danced past two defenders, before picking out Balogun inside the box, who shifted the ball onto his left foot and rifled the ball in off the crossbar.
The remaining exchanges of the first half proved to be a midfield battle with chances coming few and far between, but on the stroke of half-time Jubril Okedina leapt high inside the box to head home for the hosts.
We’d been caught off guard in defence - and less than 10 minutes after the break, Tottenham struck again.
Jeremie Mukendi slipped Rayan Clarke through on goal and the 17-year-old found the top right corner with a curling effort.
We had a golden opportunity to level the scores from the spot when Balogun was tripped by Joshua Oluwayemi inside the box - but Matt Smith’s low drive was pushed to safety.
Harvey White then furthered Tottenham’s advantage with a free-kick that fizzed through a crowd of bodies, before Balogun gave us a lifeline in the 77th minute.
The 17-year-old lost his marker inside the box and fizzed a shot across the face of goal, forcing Dennis Cirkin to inadvertently bundle the ball into his own net.
We looked set to complete the comeback when Balogun went down under the challenge of Luis Binks and the referee pointed to the spot - but Sam Greenwood’s penalty was saved by Oluwayemi.
WHAT IT MEANS
We’ve dropped down to second in the U-18 Premier League
WHAT’S NEXT
Our next game is against Fulham on Saturday, December 1.
The game will take place behind closed doors at London Colney with kick-off at 11am (UK time).
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