West Ham’s U23s earned a valiant point against their local rivals Tottenham U23s at the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Monday night in a 2-2 draw.
Goals from Keanan Bennetts and Shilow Tracey were cancelled out by Domingos Quina and Marcus Browne on a chilly evening.
Slow Out Of The Blocks
This Premier League 2 fixture was always going to be feisty, and it did not disappoint. It was a bad start for Terry Westley’s side as they went behind after just three minutes.
Shilow Tracey burst into the box, and pulled the ball back to striker Keanan Bennnetts for a tap-in into an empty net, giving the Tottenham youngsters an early lead.
But the young Hammers did not let an early goal knock them, and they were soon level.
With just 20 minutes played, a scramble in the penalty area led to Marcus Browne squeezing the ball into the path of Portuguese midfielder Domingos Quina who finished cooly with a side foot into the bottom right corner of the net to level the game.
Setback
However, the two teams were level for just six minutes. Spurs U23s countered after George Marsh intercepted the ball in midfield. Bennetts assisted Tracey for a role reversal of their first goal, and the latter slotted into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
Challenges were starting to fly in all over the field as the game grew more tense, as West Ham continued to try and find a way to break down the Spurs defence in the second half.
All Square
Time was running out for the hosts, but substitute Jahmal Hector-ingram was brought down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Marcus Browne smashed the spot kick down the middle giving no chance for goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman, and the Hammers were on level terms once again in front of 401 people.
A fair result on balance, which leaves West Ham in 6th whilst Tottenham move up a place into 10th in the Premier League 2 Division 1 table.
