A TREMENDOUS all-round performance by the ever- improving Spurs saw them run out victors in this lunchtime MFJFL U9's Division One encounter.

The scoreline was perhaps slightly flattering given the home sides' second half rally, but was based on a fantastic first half of football which saw the Badgers' dominate and play some attractive passing football, that led to their taking a two-goal advantage which they never looked likely to relinquish.

From the off the Badgers' team showed great effort and enterprise which was epitomized by the unselfish work of the midfield pairing of captain Sam Hawthorn and Dan Medakovic who tackled ferociously and never allowed the home side a foothold.

With the pace of Jaz Byers and the muscular presence of Nathan Gaiderman causing the Evesham backline problems, it was only a matter of time before the Badgers' midfield unleashed a successful attack on the Evesham goal.

That attack came after five minutes when a ball broke to Sami Rone in the left-back position, he beat his opponent before he played a simple but effective pass up to Dan Medakovic on the half way line.

The Spurs' midfielder took a couple of touches before hitting a long pass down the left wing for the sprinting Jaz Byers to latch onto. The Badgers' frontman took the ball towards the corner flag before a skilful turn saw him beat the covering defender. Byers then had the presence of mind to look up and see his strike partner Nathan Gaiderman unmarked on the edge of the box, the ball was then played in to the feet of the Spurs' marksman. The resultant first time shot was powerfully struck and ripped into the roof of the Evesham net to record Badgers' first goal.

The Evesham forwards were not getting the supply of ball to cause the Badgers' defence too much concern. However they were full of pace and on two or three occasions this pace latched onto long balls from the Evesham back line. Only the good positional play of Sami Rone and the blistering pace of Jack Wild stopped these rare raids ending on runs through onto the Badgers' goal. The shots that did come were powerfully struck but from distant and only found the welcoming arms of Spurs' keeper, Ross Grimshaw who seemed untroubled by these assaults.

The Badgers' second goal came from the same source, this time with Sam Hawthorn winning the ball and playing the ball up to Jaz Byers who did well to hold the ball up before playing the ball in from the left wing to meet the advancing Nathan Gaiderman. The Spurs' striker showed his strength to burst past a challenge before delivering a low left foot drive from just inside the box that found the bottom left corner of the Evesham goal.

The second half saw Evesham come out strongly and begin to pressurize the Badgers' goal. The defensive skills of the visiting team was sorely tested, and due to the work rate of the entire team, saw Evesham only fashion one credible chance on the away goal.

The front two of Jaz Byers and Nathan Gaiderman continually harried the Evesham backline and midfield, and with Sam Hawthorn and Dan Medakovic putting in some heroic midfield shifts, Evesham struggled to get any cohesive play put together.

Also the introduction of Danny Gauci at halftime to partner Jack Wild at the back meant that the Badgers' team now had added pace to burn in defence which could now match the Evesham forwards stride for stride.

There were few chances in the second half but the first fell to Evesham. A good passing move found an Evesham forward just outside the Badgers' penalty box, the home forward did well to break the challenges of Sam Hawthorn and Danny Gauci, but in doing so had been forced wide. This did not seem to deter the Evesham striker who then hit a low shot that looked destined to find the corner of the Spurs' goal. A combination of the right hand of keeper, Ross Grimshaw and the lunging right foot of covering defender Jack Wild managed to block this effort, and they were then grateful to see team mate, Dan Medakovic lash the ball to safety. The resultant corner was powerfully swung in but again the right foot of Jack Wild was there to meet the danger and his volleyed clearance went easily into the Evesham half.

With Evesham continuing to press it meant that the visiting front line always had a good chance of a breakaway goal. Twice both Nathan Gaiderman and Jaz Byers nearly latched onto long goal kicks from Ross Grimshaw. However, the third goal came from an accurate throw out by the Badgers' keeper which found the feet of Nathan Gaiderman just inside the his own half, the striker then turned well and played a ball in behind the Evesham backline. The sprinting Jaz Byers outpaced the home defence to take the ball around the advancing goalkeeper with his left foot, before gleefully smashing home with his right.

Afterwards coach Neil Grimshaw said: "What a difference a week makes, that was the best football we have played this season, in the first half, and we thoroughly deserved our halftime lead. Evesham really came out strong in the second period and put us under a lot of pressure which the boys did well to stand up to. This was a real team effort both when attacking and defending and it was pleasing to see the team beginning to pass the ball, link up together and play some attractive football."