It was a warm evening for Spurs opening game of the season against the visitors West Ham United. Last season Spurs lost at Hotspur Way 3-2 having led 2-0 at halftime.
They did beat them 7-2 ten days later at Stevenage in the PL International Cup.
Spurs lined up with Whiteman in goal behind Dinzeyi and Tanganga with Eyoma at right back and Ogilvie on the left. Marsh anchored the midfield with Duncan and Shashoua ahead of him. They were flanked by Edwards on the right and Georgiou on the left in support of Tracey up front.
Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the south end and soon pushed the visitors back. Spurs took an early lead when following a short corner routine by Edwards and Georgiou broke down the ball fell to Shashoua just outside the area on the left. The little midfielder curled the ball in off the far post.
The Hammers resonded with a drive into the area on the right by Holland drawing a save by Whiteman for a corner.
After that the game was played mainly in the visitors half with Tanganga heading over from one corner and then saw another header tipped over. Whiteman was caught by Lewis when collecting a backpass but recovered to get the ball away. Georgiou fired over when played in by Marsh and on another break he got to the edge of the area but his effort was blocked.
Shashoua played in Tracey on the right but his low shot just passed the far post. Shashoua had a low drive saved by Trott with Tracey tangling with the keeper over the loose ball. Then out of the blue the visitors equalised. Duncan tried to clear the ball but it hit Silva who controled the ball and crashed it into the net from a tight angle.
Having dominated the half Spurs went in level at the break.
There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw West Ham kicked off going forward forcing a foul from which Silva was played in to score his second of the night. Spurs had not recovered from this goal when Holland got down the left and pulled the ball back for Silva to complete his hattrick. Spurs never recovered from this and West Ham began to win the loose balls pinning them in their own half.
Spurs made a change replacing Shashoua with Harrison in an attempt to get back into the game. Marsh picked up a booking as Spurs struggled to complete. Tanganga headed over from a corner but that was a rare chance. Diangana fired over after picking up a header by Ogilvie who was injuried shortly after and had to be replaced by Brown. Johnson got to the line and pulled the ball back for Silva but his effort was blocked. Spurs last change was Roles replacing Duncan in the centre of midfield.
West Ham made a double change which they stretched out as long as they could. Barrett who came on was soon in the refs book when he foulled Tracey when he got passed him on the right. Tracey had to go off and Spurs finished with ten men. With West Ham seeing out the game Spurs pushed for a goal and Edwards hit a free kick over but Whiteman had to save from Holland in the last minute of added time.
This was your typical game of two halves as Spurs were on top in the first and West Ham in the second. Spurs paid the penalty for not adding to the only goal they scored. The Hammers defence had to take some credit for that especially Pask who made a number of interceptions of the final ball.
Silva’s first goal was lucky as he was probably in an offside position when the ball hit him, but poor defending accounted for the other two. Spurs must pick themselves up for the trip to Anfield on friday.
Liverpool drew 0-0 at Brighton in their first league game last week. Last season Spurs lost 4-2 at Anfield becoming the first team to score against the reds who had made an unbeaten start to the season.
Premier U-23 League, Division 1, 2018-19
Shayon Harrison(10)50Mins. 14 Jamal Hector-Ingram(9)77Mins.
Jaden Brown(3)67Mins. 16 Oladapo Afolayan(7)71Mins.
Scorers – Shashoua 5
Booked – Marsh 58(Foul)
Coach – Wayne Burnett Steve Potts
Attendence 742
Ref – Sam Purkiss
Assistant Refs – Andy Bennett & Tristan Greaves
Fourth Official – Jonathan Bolland