Chances spurned as Under-21s suffer Saints defeat

Our Under-21s were left frustrated after coming away from Southampton empty-handed despite a dominant showing on Friday night.

Having fallen behind to Romeo Akachukwu's strike following a ball over the top of our defence, our pressure told when Callum Olusesi bagged his first competitive goal at this level - and a deserved one at that - shortly before the interval.

But while we created plenty of openings, we weren't clinical enough in the box and paid the price when Princewill Ehibhatiomhan converted on the rebound after goalkeeper Luca Gunter could only parry Derrick Abu's swerving long-range effort with just under half-an-hour remaining.

Gunter did pull off several fine saves over the course of the game as Southampton weren't without chances of their own - they even hit the woodwork late on through Akachukwu - but we left Staplewood wondering what might have been after the 2-1 final scoreline, having suffered back-to-back Premier League 2 defeats for the first time since November, 2022.

The dominant Olusesi had a handful of chances before his goal, swiping a low shot just wide from Damola Ajayi's low cross and then heading Yusuf Akhamrich's delivery off-target, while goalkeeper Adli Mohamed got in the way of Mikey Moore's cute effort with Jaden Williams' shot on the follow-up blocked behind for a corner.

Despite all those opportunities, Southampton arguably had the best chance of the early stages, Ehibhatiomhan denied superbly by Gunter after a counter-attack. But when a long ball came over the top from deep in the 25th minute of the game, there was no stopping Akachukwu as he stormed through to slot home the opener for the men in red and white.

Centre-forward Williams had a near-post effort cleared off the line - the rebound ricocheting wide off Olusesi - and later fired just wide on his right foot while Gunter again brilliantly kept out Ehibhatiomhan's effort before we restored parity in the 42nd minute, Olusesi reading the play to pounce on a loose pass out from the back by Mohamed and advancing forward before slotting past the custodian.

We kept the pressure on after the restart, Olusesi just unable to reach Yusuf Akhamrich's low ball across the face of goal on the stretch, with Williams and Moore left frustrated in their attempts to force Olusesi's resulting cut-back home. The Saints struck again with a bolt from the blue on 61 minutes, though, as Gunter parried Abu's speculative 30-yard effort and Ehibhatiomhan latched onto the loose ball before rifling home from the right angle inside the box.

Our attacking endeavours didn't let up and the impressive Akhamrich had several attempts from around the edge of the area without managing to breach Mohamed's resistance. Southampton had a couple of big chances to extend their lead in the closing stages - Gunter spreading himself at the back post to deny Ehibhatiomhan once again before Akachukwu's effort on the break cleared the keeper but rebounded off the crossbar into his arms - but while we'd spent much of the game on the front foot, we couldn't find a way to take any points on a mild night on the south coast.

Match data

Goals: Southampton - Akachukwu 25, Ehibhatiomhan 61; Spurs - Olusesi 42.

Yellow cards: Southampton - Rohart-Brown 76; Spurs - Olusesi 47.

Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo.

Venue: Staplewood Training Ground, Southampton.

Weather: Sunny, partly cloudy, light winds, 20 degrees.