Under-21s victorious over Reds

Two late strikes from Rio Kyerematen and Oliver Irow gave our Under-21s a valuable home win over Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

An evenly contested game was goalless for 81 minutes before two sumptuous finishes fired us to a 2-0 victory at the Lamex Stadium.

Goalkeeper Aaron Maguire did well to keep the score level, producing three strong saves to keep the Reds at bay before we took the points late on.

The result yielded our first competitive clean sheet of the season at this level, moving us to within touching distance of the Premier League 2 play-off places.

Maguire was called into action in the very first minute of the game, producing a strong save to keep out Trent Kone-Doherty, while at the other end, Yusuf Akhamrich's speculative effort was blocked. Our best chance of the half came 22 minutes in, as Leo Black went on a darting run through the Reds' half and into the area, but his shot from the right whistled wide of the near post.

The visitors fashioned a few half-chances throughout the first period, all headers from in-swinging corners, but none of them troubled our goal, before Maguire again was equal to an effort from Amara Narro at close range four minutes before the break.

Barry Lewtas' side also carved out the first chance of the second period six minutes in with another headed effort, before Kyerematen set Akhamrich away into the left side of the penalty area, but his effort was saved by Harvey Davies.

Past the hour mark and Kyerematen fired wide from the edge of the area as we started to dominate proceedings, a spell which also saw Max McKnight and Tyrese Hall both have efforts blocked. However, nine minutes from time, Hall had another effort blocked after being found in the box by Irow, but this time it fell kindly to Kyerematen on the edge of the area and he powerfully half-volleyed home to give us the lead.

Hall turned provider again three minutes later, as a carving run on the left wing saw him work his way into the area and he found Irow, who got himself on the scoresheet for the fifth time in six games with a stunning curling effort across the keeper and into the top right corner of the net.

Neither side was able to carve out a chance in the remaining minutes, with the victory moving us back up to 21st in the table, just two points behind Leeds United in the final play-off spot.

Match data

Goals: Spurs - Kyerematen 81, Irow 84.

Yellow cards: Spurs - King 40; Liverpool - Laffey 29, Nallo 67.

Referee: Robert Massey-Ellis.

Venue: Lamex Stadium, Stevenage.

Weather: Rain and strong winds, five degrees.