Late leveller denies Under-21s victory in north London derby

A 90th-minute equaliser from Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri meant honours ended even in a rip-roaring Premier League 2 north London derby on Friday night.

Deservedly leading through Jude Soonsup-Bell's first-half header, our Under-21s would have been good value for the win at Meadow Park after a bright performance in which we attacked with pace and purpose at every opportunity, but after a series of wonder saves from goalkeeper Luca Gunter and a goal-line clearance from Jamie Donley as the hosts piled on pressure of their own in the last quarter of the game, our resistance was finally broken when Nwaneri turned home in the last minute of normal time.

In truth, the final 1-1 scoreline was probably a fair reflection of the contest after some superb rearguard action from our makeshift defensive line that had kept the Gunners at bay for so long, although it means our table-topping side are now without a win in three Premier League 2 outings. We remain two points clear at the top with two games in hand, as we move ever closer towards the play-off phase of the season.

Both teams went at it from the off and there was rarely any let-up, with the first half played at a frenetic pace for the most part and belonging largely to us in terms of attacking impetus. Donley had a couple of shots from range, Nile John's effort was blocked behind by Joshua Nichols after a great move down the right and Will Lankshear headed into the side netting from a corner before captain George Abbott's deflected shot from 25 yards rattled the crossbar just beyond the quarter-of-an-hour mark.

Donley was getting back to help win the ball in the defensive areas as the first half progressed, with Gunter - back in the team with Aaron Maguire suspended - denying Jimi Gower and James Sweet in a brief spell of pressure from Arsenal before we took a 37th-minute lead. Donley's shot after a quick counter-attack was deflected wide but from Yago Santiago's resulting corner, Soonsup-Bell rose highest in the box to nod home.

The Gunners had the better chances after the break and our goal was leading a charmed life at times. Gower volleyed over at the near post after a cut-back from the left while Gunter leapt down to his right to claw away Nwaneri's attempt, although we had a golden chance to kill the game off when John squared for Abbott on the break, but he was denied by goalkeeper Ovie Ejeheri. Sweet fired straight at Gunter, while we somehow escaped without conceding after a scramble in our six-yard box in the 77th minute, but as the hosts cranked up the pressure a couple of minutes later, we just refused to cave in, Gunter turning Sweet's effort onto the crossbar before getting down low to his left at full stretch to miraculously save Jack Henry-Francis' overhead kick on the follow-up. From the resulting corner, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji drilled towards goal, but Donley cleared from right underneath the bar.

Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything about Nwaneri's shot from a central position in the box after an attack down the right as Arsenal grabbed a late equaliser, but there was still time for both teams to have chances, Lankshear's fierce effort beaten away by Ejeheri before Gunter saved brilliantly again to prevent Nwaneri from doubling his tally, with Gower's angled shot on the rebound heroically blocked by Max Robson - who had earlier replaced Max McKnight after an impressive first league start for the latter at this level - in a dramatic end to a hotly-contested game.

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'Overall, we were pleased with the performance'

Senior Academy Coach Nigel Gibbs, who works alongside Wayne Burnett with the Under-21s, said the players deserved praise for their application, in spite of Arsenal's late equaliser: "We were really pleased with the players - they showed a lot of spirit with some really good bits of play," he said. "The lads have done well and they've continued that tonight. It was a tough game, I thought in the first half we deserved to be in front, the second half we started very well in the first 20 minutes, could have got another goal in that period and as we saw at the end, they came onto us strongly and obviously got the late equaliser but we kept going, we had to make tackles and blocks near the end and the players did that because they cared about the result. Overall, we were pleased with the performance."

On goalkeeper Gunter's heroics on his return to the starting line-up, Nigel added: "It was good to see Luca back in the team. It was unfortunate for Aaron (Maguire) to miss out but he came back into a really high-intensity game and made some great saves, but so did the defenders - they put their bodies on the line and that's what we ask of them. We want to play a high-intensity game, we did that, we played some good stuff at times, we did create chances and it's a shame we couldn't have got that second goal because I think that would have been a different challenge for Arsenal."

Match data

Goals: Arsenal - Nwaneri 90; Spurs - Soonsup-Bell 37.

Yellow cards: Arsenal - Nwaneri 49; Spurs - Lankshear 75, Donley 90+1.

Referee: James Durkin.

Venue: Meadow Park, Borehamwood.

Weather: Light cloud, cold, six degrees.