Byfield nets winner as Under-21s see off West Brom

Jun’ai Byfield’s first goal at Under-21 level gave us a slender but well-deserved home win over West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League 2 on Friday night.

The young defender swept home after Dane Scarlett nodded Luca Williams-Barnett’s corner back across goal with 20 minutes gone – and that’s how it stayed as we ground out a hard-fought three points at Stevenage’s Lamex Stadium.

Indeed, we had to be adept at both sides of the game, attacking freely for much of the first half before staying strong to keep the Baggies at bay in a physically-challenging second period, including 10 minutes of added time. It was a good effort from our young side and the ideal response after Tuesday’s heavy defeat to Plymouth Argyle’s senior team in the Vertu Trophy.

Yusuf Akhamrich, one of the bright spots in midweek, was again a lively influence down the right while striker Scarlett brought some experience at centre-forward in his first match action of the season. Young defender Elijah Upson also enjoyed a solid outing on his Under-21s debut, making some important contributions to our clean sheet.

We could and arguably should have scored more than one goal in a dominant first-half display as West Brom struggled to deal with our eye-catching advances. Rio Kyerematen fired over in the early stages before Byfield gave us the lead, converting from close range after Scarlett had nodded Williams-Barnett’s corner down to him in a congested box.

Williams-Barnett embarked on a couple of dazzling forward runs but was robbed of the ball at the last moment while Scarlett saw one shot saved and another one blocked as we kept up the pressure.

West Brom somehow survived a sustained flurry of shots five minutes before the break as Williams-Barnett exchanged passes brilliantly with Scarlett before seeing his effort saved by Brian Okonkwo, who then turned Oli Irow’s follow-up shot onto the post. Scarlett arrived onto the loose ball and blasted it towards goal from 10 yards out but defender Alfie Maughan impressively got his body in the way of it – a quite remarkable sequence that left everyone wondering how it wasn’t 2-0.

The second half was a different story, with various injuries and yellow cards making it a stop-start period. Jack Bray sent a header over the bar from point-blank range just after the hour mark but that was as close as the Baggies went as we managed the game solidly to its conclusion. We could have added a second goal right at the end with a couple of attempts, but substitute Tynan Thompson saw his effort flash wide from a tight angle before Okonkwo denied Akhamrich at his near post.

Reaction on SPURSPLAY

‘A really tough game’

Under-21s Coach Wayne Burnett felt West Brom’s change of approach in the second period made it difficult for us, but was delighted that his players managed to see out the win.

“It was a really tough game,” he told SPURSPLAY. “I thought we were excellent in the first half at times from an attacking point of view, we seemed to make really hard work of it in the second half but managed to get over the line. They became a little bit more aggressive on their press and played a little bit higher up the pitch, we lost our way and a little bit of control at times, we weren’t making those passes or sustaining any pressure so I felt that was probably one of the reasons why, but credit to West Brom, they changed slightly in the second half and made it more difficult for us.”

On goalscorer Byfield, Wayne added: “I’m delighted for him. We all know the capabilities of Jun’ai and I thought he defended very well tonight, along with Elijah. Both of them were excellent and for Elijah’s first game, I thought he was very good.”

Match data

Goal: Spurs – Byfield 20.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Cassanova 56, Williams-Barnett 74, Batty 90+7; West Bromwich Albion – Mandey 18, Blackshields 31, German-Ranger 50.

Referee: Alan Young.

Venue: Lamex Stadium, Stevenage.

Weather: Partly cloudy, light winds, 11 degrees.

Attendance: 322.