History repeated itself in remarkable fashion as our Under-18s snatched a 95th-minute equaliser to draw 2-2 with Reading at Hotspur Way for the second time in less than two weeks on Wednesday – although there was a distinctly different feeling among the players and staff this time around following a below-par showing over the course of the game.
After Armend Muslika memorably struck in the fifth added minute to rescue a deserved point in our season curtain-raiser a week ago on Saturday, it was captain Elijah Upson who netted late on in this Under-18 Premier League Cup opener – incredibly, also with 95 on the watch – as we again recovered to secure a share of the spoils.
But the manner of the performance on this occasion left everyone with a sense of frustration at the final whistle. We’d found ourselves under pressure for long periods after Oliver Salter opened his account, with two goals in two minutes from Reading substitute Ainsley Covus turning the tie around after the break.
You could sense that coming, although to our credit we found some renewed impetus in the last few moments, new signing Conall Glancy impressive on his debut with fellow substitute Toju Wellspring – an Under-16s player – making a big impact in the middle. Indeed, it was his superb cross that saw Upson power home a header in the last couple of minutes to put our first point on the board in Group H – the defender earning redemption in the process after being sent off in the previous draw with the Royals – but with further matches against Burnley and Derby County still to come, we’re likely to need maximum points from here on in if we’re to reach the knockout phase.
Salter marked his first start at this level with his first goal inside five minutes, running onto Ronny Moncur’s cut-back from the right to plant a low shot into the net. He could have doubled his tally moments later after a great solo run, but teased his effort just wide.
Reading started to assert themselves on the game soon afterwards, their captain Larry Omoregie having a couple of near-misses before seeing an effort on the counter ruled out for offside. Omari Bailey coaxed a flying save out of our goalkeeper Blake Irow at the start of the second half before George Booth slid wide as the Royals stayed on the offensive. Their pressure eventually told as Covus volleyed Ryan Zie’s cross in off the far post on 63 minutes before pouncing on a mistake at the back 60 seconds later to clip the ball over the stranded Irow for 2-1.
Omoregie was a whisker away with an audacious long-range lob while Irow produced a superb save to deny Covus his hat-trick with nine minutes remaining, but our substitutes – as was the case in our league win at Norwich City on Saturday – made an impact and we started to play forward more in the closing stages. Glancy produced some nice footwork to set up Muslika for a shot in the box, but he saw his effort blocked with Salter also denied on the follow-up.
With the wind whipping up, we kept probing and finally conjured up an equaliser in added time, Wellspring’s excellent delivery from the right powerfully headed home by Upson. We still had time to win it, but Reading closed ranks and the spoils were shared.
‘Missing some of the non-negotiables’
Interim Under-18s Coach Joe Staunton felt the overall performance needed to be better despite the late equaliser, telling SPURSPLAY: “We were disappointing today. We were lacklustre with the ball at times, there were quite a few technical turnovers and unfortunately we were missing some of the non-negotiables in terms of working hard, picking up second balls and running back when we were required to do so.
“Although we managed to turn the game around and get something at the end of it, we’re disappointed with the way it went. I thought we were fortunate to be 1-0 up at half-time and in the second half, we weren’t able to take control. In giving away two cheap goals, it cost us an opportunity and we had to work ever-so hard to get something out of the game at the end.”