Jamel Beggs fired home in the 100th minute as our Under-18s dramatically drew 4-4 with Arsenal on Tuesday.
The midfielder’s deflected shot sailed home deep into stoppage time at London Colney as our much-improved second-half efforts were rewarded, having trailed by an incredible 4-3 scoreline at the break.
Yet even in spite of the late strike, which came after we’d hit the woodwork three times and seen the Gunners reduced to 10 men when Sam Onyekachukwu was dismissed for dragging back Reiss Elliott-Parris as the last defender in the 94th minute – the second time Onyekachukwu has been sent off against us in added time for a foul on the same player within the space of just a few weeks – there was a real sense of disappointment that we hadn’t managed to take more than a point, as both sides lost ground in a crowded title picture involving the top six teams in the league.
The first half had belonged largely to the hosts as they recovered from conceding to Ellis Lehane inside the first 60 seconds to lead 3-1, only to see quickfire goals from George Feeney and Jun’ai Byfield get us back on level terms before retaking the lead once more on the stroke of half-time. But the second period yielded a different tale and the late goal was the least Stuart Lewis’ troops deserved, although we’re now left eight points off the top with only three games left.
Tynan Thompson down the left flank was our biggest attacking outlet in the first half and it was his cross that was touched on by Luca Williams-Barnett for striker Lehane to ram home inside the first minute. But Arsenal roared back and after goalkeeper Sam Archer saved Andre Harriman-Annous’ shot down to his right, their captain Max Dowman picked out the bottom corner from the edge of the box to restore parity, Dan Casey then saw a header ruled out for offside before Onyekachukwu turned home a low shot from just inside the box after we’d failed to clear our lines, making it 2-1 after a quarter-of-an-hour.
Archer got back to prevent Dowman from lobbing him from distance but two soon became three as Ife Ibrahim fired in from the edge of the box in the 28th minute as Arsenal made their aggressive pressing count. We staged a mini revival with two goals in three minutes shortly before half-time, though, as Feeney lashed high inside the near post on his left foot after a corner wasn’t cleared before Williams-Barnett caught the Gunners napping with a quick free-kick out to Thompson on the left and his low delivery was thumped in by Byfield for his second goal in as many games.
Arsenal, however, stayed on the attack and after Louie Copley’s header from a corner glanced off the top of the bar, Louis Zecevic John beat the offside trap to go through and slot home, sending his side in at the break back in the lead.
We made changes at the interval and in the opening exchanges of the second half, Williams-Barnett twice got in down the left side of the box after good work from Harry Byrne and substitute Elliott-Parris but was first denied by goalkeeper Jack Porter before seeing a deft effort hit the crossbar. Archer brilliantly denied Casey at the other end while Elliott-Parris went close with an effort from a tight angle for us which Porter had to scramble back and clear, before Williams-Barnett was thwarted by the legs of Porter and Byfield headed a golden chance wide from Thompson’s cross as we kept pushing for a leveller.
We hit the woodwork twice in quick succession in the 83rd minute as Beggs’ deflected effort from distance hit the bar, while Williams-Barnett could only hit the far post with the rebound with defender Elijah Upson’s pace and strength on full display in the aftermath to stamp out an Arsenal counter-attack.
With the game in stoppage time, lightning struck twice for Gunners midfielder Onyekachukwu as he was sent off against us for the second time in as many months for holding Elliott-Parris back by the shirt as he ran in behind with 94 minutes on the watch, but with time still remaining we continued to push and after Williams-Barnett was left frustrated with a couple of attempts, we finally found the equaliser in the 10th added minute as Beggs’ strike from 18 yards out took a deflection and despite Porter getting a touch on it, he couldn’t prevent the ball from flying into the net. The final whistle sounded soon afterwards, with neither side seemingly happy with the share of the spoils.
‘It sums up the character of this group’
Under-18s Coach Stuart admitted to having contrasting feelings after the late drama: “We’re experiencing strange emotions really as there’s a hint of disappointment, even though we scored so late and got a well-deserved point but then on reflection, in the first half we didn’t perform to the levels that we have done in recent weeks both with and without the ball,” he said. “During that period I thought we fell short of the standard, but the second half was outstanding, we missed some really big chances and then we scored late, which ultimately sums up the character of this group. To not get beaten here, I think it was a positive point.”
On the changes made at the break, which saw the introductions of striker Elliott-Parris and defender Malachi Hardy with Samal Bangura moving into central midfield, Stuart added: “It needed freshening up at half-time. The boys had played really well on Saturday away at Leicester and we just felt that those tactical changes were needed to get some control in the game but still also perform without the ball. I think it was important that we were able to do that.”