WHAT HAPPENED
We got off to the best possible start in 2022, beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 on a wet Saturday afternoon at London Colney.
Both Marcelo Flores and Mauro Bandeira started in midfield, despite featuring for Kevin Betsy's side against Brighton the night before, in what was a strong starting lineup.
However, it was the visitors who almost landed the game's first telling blow, having a goal ruled out for offside after just two minutes.
The disallowed goal proved to be just the wake-up call we needed, as Charles Sagoe Jr gave us the lead moments later, finding the bottom left-hand corner with a thumping strike from 20 yards out.
Our skipper Taylor Foran was booked for a late challenge as, in true north London derby fashion, the game started to heat up.
Khayon Edwards, picked out by Sagoe Jr, kept his cool amongst the chaos and doubled our lead midway through the half, his powerful strike across goal leaving Luca Gunter with no chance.
We struggled to maintain our rhythm at the start of the second half and Tottenham pulled one back through Thomas Bloxham, who fired one into the roof of the net past Remy Mitchell.
The visitors now had their tails up and equalised shortly after, Jaden Williams poking home from close range after we failed to deal with a cross into the box.
Dan Micciche's side showed their now infamous fighting spirit to take the lead late on once again, Edwards scoring his second of the match, latching onto a James Sweet cross from the right and sending a glancing header past Gunter.
We held out to secure all three points and claim bragging rights over our north London rivals.
WHAT IT MEANS
We leapfrog West Ham into fifth place in the Under-18 Premier League table after 13 matches.
WHAT'S NEXT
We're back in Under-18 Premier League action on Saturday, January 15, when we travel to West Ham.
The match will kick off at 11am (GMT).
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