U19 youth team - Arsenal vs West Ham 04/09/99

FA Premier Academy League, U19

Sat 4th September 1999

Arsenal 1 (0) West Ham 1 (0)

Arsenal: Graham Stack; John Halls, Nerada Bernard, Liam Chilvers, Lee Canoville; David Noble, Declan Field (? ~70), Guillaume Norbert, Jay Bothroyd; Jermaine Brown (Stephen Sidwell h-t), Joe Kuffour

Scorer: Bothroyd ~89

A hard fought game in hot weather between the two teams which finished 1st and 2nd in this section last season eventually finished even, after Arsenal grabbed a late equaliser which was the least their efforts had deserved. Both sides I suspect were much changed from last year, certainly in Arsenal's case the bulk of the players have come through from last year's U17s. Only Canoville and Norbert would have been too old for the U17s last season, and Brown & Sidwell I think still qualify for the U17s this season.

Arsenal dominated most of the match, but had to rely on a late equaliser which came after an injury to the West Ham keeper had forced them to use an outfield substitute between the sticks for the final 20 minutes or so. The first half in particular was dominated by the home team, though a strong West Ham defence (led I think by Izzy Iriekpen who has a first team squad no.) limited Arsenal to few clear cut chances.

The first came from a defensive mistake when Kuffour latched onto a misplaced pass and was through on the keeper. He had to stretch to toe poke a shot goalwards and I think a defender's last ditch tackle got a slight deflection (the keeper may also have got a faint touch) and the ball bobbled just wide. The corner was flicked on a the near post to reach Brown at the far post, but it seemed to take him by surprise and he could only hook the ball back across the face of goal.

Late on in the half Bothroyd got a head to a cross from the right by Norbert I think, and a looping header was dropping just into the top corner before the keeper stretched to fist it over. As far as I recall that was the only difficult save he had to make in the half, though he held on well to a couple of long range shots by Norbert, cutting in from the right, which were straight at him.

At the other end West Ham rarely had any concerted pressure, and the only real chance I can remember came towards the end of the half when some slackness in defence let in the no 11 in the left side of the area, but he put a right foot shot from an angle into the side netting.

Arsenal switched things round a bit at half time. Brown who had been partnering Kuffour up front was substituted by Sidwell, and Bothroyd moved in from the left wing to use his height in the central striking position. Sidwell took Field's place in midfield, with the young Irishman moving out to the left.

However, the tactical change had little chance to show an immediate effect because the visitors took the lead soon after the break. A long ball down the middle was flicked on, to send the no 9 clear and he took the ball on and finished clinically, stroking the ball across Stack and just inside the far post.

West Ham then enjoyed their best spell of the match, for the next 15 minutes or so, and Stack was forced into a couple of good saves. Arsenal gradually worked their way back into it though, and possibly the turning point came midway through the half. A corner from the right was chipped to the near post and the keeper went up with a knot of players, but the ball was knocked goalwards only to be cleared off the line by a defender. The keeper though had hurt his shoulder in the challenge, and despite playing on for a while after treatment, he was in some pain after going up for a cross later and was substituted. West Ham seemed not to have a substitute keeper, and I think it was an outfield sub who went in goal.

The pressure was almost constantly on the West Ham goal after that, but to West Ham's credit Arsenal rarely had a chance to test the stand-in keeper. Sidwell and Bothroyd both had sights of goal from outside the area, but failed to get shots on target. Norbert did get him to do some work following a break down the right, but the keeper did well to cling onto his low cross. Arsenal might have had a couple of penalties first when Norbert broke into the area on the right and seemed to be bundled over from behind by a defender, and then Bothroyd did likewise. This time the defender went in with a sliding tackle which certainly missed the ball and Bothroyd, perhaps conveniently, fell over the outstretched legs. Both times the ref ignored the penalty claims.

Late in the game Bothroyd was again put clear down the right, but perhaps lacking confidence in his right foot, chose to square the ball across goal instead of shooting, and Kuffour was just beaten to it by a defender. With about 15-20 minutes left Arsenal had replaced Declan Field with substitute I didn't manage to identify, and I think it was from his cross from the left that the breakthrough finally came. He slanted it in with his right foot towards the near post, and I think Bothroyd just got a flicked header to it and the ball ended up in the far corner.

It was the least Arsenal deserved, having controlled large periods of the match, though they struggled to create much in the way of clear chances. In the first half, Brown and Kuffour formed a rather small and lightweight attack. Bothroyd added a bit more height in the second, though he's rather infuriating to watch as he frequently doesn't seem to be trying very hard. He has got a languid style, but it's hard to avoid the impression that he is also lazy. David Noble impressed in midfield with some calm control and nice touches, and Norbert once again was a handful with his running with the ball at his feet. Chilvers and Canoville looked good at the back - the latter missed most of last season through injury, so I haven't seen him play before. He likes coming out from the back, in the style of a Hansen. Bernard is a summer signing from Spurs, and looked quite good going forward. He also gives the team a left footed full back which they lacked last year.

Derek

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