Fleetwood Town’s Under-21s were knocked out of the Premier League Cup on Saturday afternoon after losing to Premier League 2 leaders Tottenham Hotspur.
A trip to the capital saw the end of Town’s cup run this season as goals from Dane Scarlett, Will Lankshear, Nile John, and Yago De Santiago Alonso saw Spurs through to the Quarter Finals of the competition.
It was a quick start to the game with Tottenham’s number nine firing into the side netting in the opening minutes, but Town reacted well and felt they could have gone ahead after narrowly missing two attempts soon after.
Forward Theo Williams spotted a loose back pass from the Spurs left-back, towards his goalkeeper, and pounced on it, taking the ball around the goalkeeper with his first touch, but a defender blocked his shot off the line.
Spurs were then punished as they did a back pass from the previous chance, meaning Town would have an indirect free-kick eight yards out. Junior Quitirna took the set piece, with Sam Glenfield firing on goal, but it was well-blocked and cleared.
After a brilliant low save from Pat Boyes, Tottenham started to take control of the game as Scarlett opened the scoring 26 minutes in with Lankshear making it two a couple of minutes later, as he latched onto Jamie Donley’s scuffed effort.
Lankshear would add two more goals before the break, completing his first-half hat-trick, with John adding a fifth soon after the restart from a free-kick just outside the Fleetwood area.
A change-up in tactics then saw Quitirna be replaced by Sam Fishburn and, with two up top now, the Cods had more presence in the box. This almost worked out straight away as Williams almost converted from a deep cross soon after.
The game settled down soon after with chances coming at a premium; one key chance fell to the hosts but brave defending from Finley Potter saw him dive in to block George Abbott’s effort from close range.
Spurs didn’t let off the gas until the end, with De Santiago Alonso adding a sixth before the final whistle, meaning Town’s cup run would end in London. Next up for the Under-21s is a home league clash against Burnley on Tuesday.
Spurs XI: Maguire (GK), Ashcroft (McKnight 76’), Robson (Linton 88’), Cassanova, Abbott (C) (Andiyapan 88’), John, Soonsup-Bell (J.Williams 76’), Donley, Lankshear, Scarlett (Kyerematen 65’), De Santiago Alonso.
Unused subs: N/A
Town XI: Boyes (GK), Johnson (C), Wright-Ocana, Wilson, Potter, Pond (Cirino 87’), Quitirna (Fishburn 58’), Glenfield (Hoyle 72’), T.Williams (Roberts 87’), White, Brown.
Unused sub: Bellizia (GK).