Under-18s score four in away win over Arsenal

Our Under-18s took the north London derby spoils with a superb 4-2 win at Arsenal on Saturday.

After a disappointing defeat at Aston Villa on the opening day of the season a fortnight ago, we bounced back in some style, roaring into a four-goal lead before the Gunners scored twice in the second half to reduce their arrears.

In truth, we could and perhaps should have scored more with James Rowswell, Mikey Moore and Ellis Lehane all hitting the woodwork, but it was still a fine performance from Stuart Lewis' new-look side at London Colney.

Osman Kamara fired wide for the hosts before we took the lead in the 25th minute, Moore's quick thinking on a free-kick allowing Tyrese Hall run on and cross into the box, where the Gunners' Maldini Kacurri accidentally put through his own net.

It was 2-0 on 41 minutes when Rowswell headed in from Yusuf Akhamrich's corner and after Arsenal's Michal Rosiak forced Carey Bloedorn into a good save at the start of the second period, we made it three when Moore finished off a good team move with a neat left-footed finish in the 51st minute.

Five minutes later, a great tackle from the excellent Han Willhoft-King led to another fine passage of play which resulted in Callum Olusesi slipping in Akhamrich to make it four.

Kamara converted Seb Ferdinand's cross at the back post to make it 4-1 just before the hour mark, with the hosts having a couple of efforts chalked off for offside and then handball before Ferdinand scored a penalty with 10 minutes remaining after Leo Black was penalised for his challenge on Kamara in the box.

'A real purpose and energy to our play'

Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis was naturally thrilled with the result, telling us afterwards: "Everyone understands the importance of playing against our rivals and I could feel that today, with a real purpose and energy to our play. We got after them, pressed the ball really well and showed a calmness and cutting edge when the key moments arrived. I thought it was a really good performance and to win the north London derby like that was excellent. Probably for 60 or 65 minutes we were really dominant and had a real style and cutting edge to our play. On reflection, we're disappointed to have conceded two goals and allowed them to make the scoreline a bit narrower, but in general we saw some much-improved performance levels and some outstanding displays. I'm really pleased for the players as a group and it gives us an important platform to push on from in the coming weeks."