Debutant Lankshear nets stoppage-time equaliser for Under-18s against Wolves

Will Lankshear scored twice on his debut – including a sensational 97th-minute equaliser – as our Under-18s roared back from 3-0 down at half-time to draw 3-3 with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Under-18 Premier League Cup on Saturday afternoon.

The 17-year-old centre-forward, a summer signing from Sheffield United, stepped off the bench with just over 20 minutes to go at Hotspur Way and secured us a deserved point, converting Mikey Moore’s low ball across goal from close range before combining with the same player deep into stoppage time to deservedly haul us back level.

Moore himself had earlier got us off the mark following good work from Max McKnight and in truth, our second-half performance probably warranted more than just the draw after Owen Farmer’s hat-trick had put the visitors in command early on.

Jaden Williams and Lankshear both had chances as we chased the game, but having trailed by such a margin, it was a welcome final outcome as we built on the 3-1 win at Liverpool on matchday one with another point ahead of our third and final game in the group at Charlton Athletic next month.

We found ourselves a goal down inside nine minutes when Farmer got himself in front of goalkeeper Luca Gunter to head Josh Esen’s right-wing cross into the net, with the same player lashing home for 2-0 eight minutes later after a defence-splitting pass from Marvin Kaleta.

The visitors continued to press and Gunter saved well from Tom Edozie, but was then deemed to have fouled Farmer just inside the box, with the Wolves striker duly completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot with only 34 minutes played. Around the same time, an opening arose for Damola Ajayi at the other end but he chose to cut the ball back instead of shooting and the chance slipped away, while Gunter was needed again to keep Connor McLeod at bay in the closing stages of the first half.

We began the second half much more purposefully and after Wolves goalkeeper Jimmy Storer denied George Abbott and Jaden Williams, we pulled a goal back on 52 minutes. McKnight connected with Jahziah Linton’s cross with a sweetly-struck volley that was well saved by Storer, but McKnight picked up the rebound and slid the ball across the six-yard box from the right for Moore to ram home his third goal in as many domestic games.

Williams squandered a couple more good chances from inside the area but we continued on the front foot and got it back to 3-2 on 78 minutes, Moore working in along the left byline and setting up Lankshear to convert from close range. Lankshear’s subsequent shot from distance was easy for Storer before the striker powered a header from McKnight’s delivery over the bar in a big chance to equalise with three minutes of normal time remaining. Wolves almost made the game safe at the other end when Farmer’s angled shot beat Gunter but cannoned off the base of the far post but we simply refused to give up and after Moore seized on the ball on the left in the seventh minute of added time, he again set up Lankshear to apply a clinical finish into the bottom corner to complete a remarkable comeback.

Reaction on SPURSPLAY

‘We showed a great reaction’

Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis told SPURSPLAY: “In the first half we lacked concentration. In football you have to do the basics right, win your first and second balls, but we didn’t do that well enough and we gifted them three goals through our lack of concentration and energy, which we will debrief with the lads.

“But we showed a great reaction in the second half, there was a belief from the players that showed throughout that half and in the end, it sounds a bit bizarre given the comeback but we’re probably a little bit disappointed that we didn’t go on to win the game – we missed some chances but we can’t be too greedy because obviously 3-3 after being 3-0 down is a good result, but it’s a massive learning curve for the players. We’ll reflect and that’s what we want, that energy and purpose that we saw in the second half.”

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