Having lost possession and fallen behind early to Oliver Bindley’s strike, we hit straight back through captain Tye Hall’s third goal in four games and were deservedly level at the break.
But a horrible moment for goalkeeper Blake Irow on his first appearance after injury saw Villa forward Markie Meade close him down and score what proved to be the decisive goal five minutes after half-time as we slipped to back-to-back league defeats for the first time this season.
Centre-back Cayon Hanson started for the first time at this level while Under-16s defender Solomon Olajide produced an impressive display in an unfamiliar left-back role as Jamie Carr made changes from last week’s home loss to Brighton, but a difficult start at Bodymoor Heath saw us go 1-0 down inside four minutes. After intercepting the ball, Villa broke forward through Meade, he shifted it left to Jack McGrath and his low centre was converted by Bindley.
A moment of quality saw us draw level two minutes later, though, as some slick play involving centre-forward Oliver Boast saw Harry Byrne – playing in central midfield – drill in to the feet of Hall and he turned in a congested area on the 18-yard line to curl superbly inside the far post, scoring for the third away game in succession.
Conall Glancy lashed into the side-netting and later delivered a menacing corner that led to loud appeals for handball in the Villa box, but the referee waved away our players’ claims, while Boast’s angled shot was comfortable for goalkeeper Rhys Oakley as we got into some good areas but struggled to meaningfully threaten the opponents’ goal.
A big moment arrived five minutes into the second period, though, as Irow, back in the side for the first time since January, was closed down by Meade, who sent the ball flying back into the net to restore the home side’s lead. Boast and Miracle Adewole sent shots wide, as did Villa’s Cole Ramsey, while substitute Heaven Kilwa stung the palms of Irow as both sides struggled to build any sustained momentum, while Boast was left frustrated after peeling away in behind and going down under Keilan Quinn’s challenge, but the referee again was having none of it.
Bindley and Byrne fired off-target at either end as we entered the closing stages but despite some good late pressure from us, we were unable to force an equaliser and the points went to the hosts.
‘We lacked a bit of a cutting edge’
Although disappointed with the scoreline, coach Jamie saw some positives from individual displays: “When we look at the big picture of the individual performances, three or four of the back line did really well,” he said. “Both Under-16s (Olajide and Oscar Sandiford) came out with a lot of credit – they performed really well – and we were competitive from that point of view, but overall we probably lacked a bit of a cutting edge in the final third. When we were in crossing positions, we didn’t quite pick out the right delivery or when we were in positions to shoot, we didn’t hit the target so that was frustrating, but overall, we played some good stuff, we used the insides more than we have done previously and played some good football at times, but probably not enough when you look at the whole game.”
Line-up
Spurs: B Irow, Sandiford, Olajide, Hanson (Agyekum 81), Tingey, Tye Hall (c) (Thomas 81), Glancy (Muslika 66), Byrne, Boast, Feeney, Adewole (Elliott-Parris 73). Substitute (not used): Jack.