Fleet 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur U21 (4-5 pens)
Having settled their previous ties in this competition from the spot, the Fleet and Tottenham Hotspur were obliged to do so again after a 1-1 draw over an entertaining 90 minutes. And it was Spurs who prevailed in a to-and-fro shootout that went to sudden death to claim the extra point.
In normal time, Ben Chapman had equalised Rio Kyerematen’s opener with Spurs bright and controlled in the first-half but second best to the Fleet after the break.
Tyler Cordner’s place in the starting lineup caught the eye after his injury layoff while Dylan Berry returned between the posts and Dominic Poleon was skipper for the night. The visitors, delayed by half an hour on the M25, included seven of their PL2 side that lost to Reading on Friday night, while the remaining four from that defeat were on the bench.
And it was Cordner with the first crunching tackle to deny Damola Alayi from squeezing his way through before Jaden Williams did well on seven minutes to get a shot away that went just low and wide of Berry’s post after a good run by Leo Black.
Poleon was inches away from putting the Fleet ahead on 15 minutes when he got on the end of Jim Kellermann’s pass over the top. The forward steered the ball around the rather rash challenge of goalkeeper Aaron Maguire and powered an effort on target from 20 yards but Maeson King was well-positioned to slide in and block on the line.
And four minutes later the Fleet orchestrated a lovely move with a quick-thinking pass from Cordner releasing Sha’mar Lawson. A rapid exchange of passes allowed Kellermann to run on to Poleon’s through ball and his blast had power but strayed off target.
Tottenham were the team to get their noses in front, however, on 23 minutes. A free-kick was slipped into Kyerematen who saw his first shot blocked by Tom Dallison but the ball rebounded straight to him at a nice height and he drove it beyond Berry.
The Spurs defence dallied on the edge of their box and that risky misadventure had Lawson and Kwame Thomas bundling in to retrieve the ball but the visitors escaped that one. Fleet had an escape of their own six minutes before the break when Black’s speculative effort crossed towards the far post bounced off the bar and almost hit Berry on the back before being cleared.
Berry found Williams’ shot easier to gather moments later after the Spurs striker had turned Dallison with a couple of stepovers but it was Fleet who struck next.
A long ball down the left was chased by Poleon who got to the byline and delivered a precise cross that was just behind Thomas. The chance might have gone but Ben Chapman was well placed to direct the loose ball over the line.
The same two players in reverse were involved for Fleet’s opening chance of the second half when Poleon nodded Chapman’s cross at goalkeeper Maguire. That signalled a period of encouraging football from the Fleet, moving the ball forward at pace and pressing higher, in what was a physical game with plenty of crunching tackles and yellow cards (although six of them seemed a disproportionate number against the offences committed).
It was 67 minutes before Spurs showed their hand again, Williams turning quickly in the box and his shot on target was well parried by Berry.
The ever industrious Chapman released Thomas via an excellent instinctive pass with 15 minutes to play but the Fleet striker was marshalled wide by two Spurs defenders as the home side continued to take the game to their opponents.
That was Thomas’s last involvement as he was clattered in a midfield challenge and there was another little piece of history made as Greg Cundle became the club’s first ever sixth substitute.
Great approach play with five minutes left saw Wes Fonguck inject some pace into a weaving run into the box and his effort bounced off a Spurs body – with numerous claims for handball – but the referee waved away any appeals. Another appeal came with a Franklin Domi run from the halfway line to the corner of the Spurs box but that too elicited no sympathy from the man in the middle.
In seven minutes of added time, Louis John connected well with a header that threatened to dip under the bar but it was gathered without a problem by Maguire who then made quickfire saves from Cundle and Domi. And with the seconds ticking down, Fleet piled on the pressure and John went close again from two final corners, first with a firm header and then with a swing of the foot low past the post.
So to penalties it went and after Domi and Fonguck saw their kicks saved it seemed Spurs might run away with it but Berry saved one and then Black skied his to level at 1-1 after John had scored for the Fleet. Jephte Tanga fired wide, Maxx Manktelow fired his confidently home and then Berry saved again from Yusuf Akhamerich to take it to sudden death but despite Chapman’s well-struck fourth, Craig Tanner’s kick was saved and Max McKnight converted the winner.
EUFC: Berry, Cordner (John 54), Dallison (Olagunju 46), Wakely, Domi, Chapman, Kellermann (Tanga 46), Lawson (Fonguck 34), Tanner, Thomas (Cundle 79), Poleon (Manktelow 61). Sub not used: Firth
THFC: Maguire, Ashcroft (Andiyapan 69), Kyerematen, King (Donnington 46), Casanova, Olusesi (Hall 46), Akhamrich, Black, Williams, Alayi (McKnight 69), Linton. Subs not used: Irow, Robson, Archer
Attendance: 865
Photos: ©EUFC/Dave Plumb
Cautions: Kellermann, Domi, Tanner, Fonguck, Chapman, Tanga
Man of the match vote.
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