Under-21s edged out by Saints

Our Under-21s were left frustrated as Southampton escaped from Hotspur Way with maximum points in the Premier League 2 on Saturday afternoon.

Despite controlling the game for long spells and missing a big chance to take the lead when Oli Irow blazed over the bar, we fell behind seven minutes before the break when Baylee Dipepa fired home from the right angle inside the box, with substitute Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh doubling the visitors’ lead on the hour with a pinpoint low shot into the bottom corner.

Defender Pele Arganese-McDermott reduced the arrears when he headed home his first goal in our colours nine minutes later but despite Reiss Russell-Denny and James Rowswell going close and Yusuf Akhamrich hitting the bar in the latter stages, we couldn’t find an equaliser and slipped to a 2-1 defeat.

We seemed to struggle to turn our good passages of play into goalscoring opportunities over the course of the game and by the end it was the Saints who’d enjoyed the better chances overall. Tommy Dobson-Ventura turned an early effort wide while our goalkeeper Carey Bloedorn – playing his first game of the season on his return from injury – made a superb block to deny Dipepa one-against-one.

We fashioned our best chance of the first period on 29 minutes when Dane Scarlett did brilliantly to get in behind on the right before unselfishly squaring across the box for Irow, but he fired over the bar, and nine minutes later we found ourselves behind – arguably against the run of play – as Sutura Kakay was allowed to get in down the right and play in Dipepa, who finished well with an angled drive.

Kakay could have added his name to the scoresheet early in the second half but was denied first by Arganese-McDermott and then Bloedorn, who later made a couple of other key saves but could do nothing to prevent the Saints from going 2-0 up on the hour. O’Brien-Whitmarsh broke forward in the inside right channel, turned initially infield but then turned back onto his right foot and managed to find the far bottom corner with a low strike from distance.

Romeo Akachukwu floated an effort just over the bar in the wake of a corner as the rain started to fall but we found a lifeline on 69 minutes when Yusuf Akhamrich – again a lively influence on the right flank – sent in a cross and Arganese-McDermott headed home at the back post to open his account in our colours.

Another cross, this time from Irow on the left, so nearly led to an equaliser a few minutes later but Russell-Denny’s deft near-post effort was well stopped by Hugo Fisher on his line. We made a triple change but with time running out, the closest we went was when Akhamrich’s ball over into the middle from the right side clipped the crossbar during stoppage time. Substitute Rowswell craned a header wide of the post shortly afterwards, but the sound of the final whistle moments later meant it was the Saints who were ultimately celebrating.

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Arganese-McDermott 69; Southampton – Dipepa 38, O’Brien-Whitmarsh 60.

Yellow cards: Spurs – McFadden 57; Southampton – Gathercole 65.

Referee: Koji Takasaki.

Venue: Hotspur Way.

Weather: Sunny intervals, rain at times, 13 degrees.

Attendance: 242.