The young Reds emerged from the break with plenty to do after the hosts’ three first-half strikes, but it was Spurs who notched first in the second period, again through Williams-Barnett to seal his hat-trick.
Substitute Shea Lacey entered the field on the hour mark and gave Tottenham plenty to worry about despite their comfortable lead. His first goal came in the 78th minute when he cut in from the right wing and squeezed an accurate finish into the goalkeeper’s bottom-left corner.
Seconds later he had his name on the scoresheet again, firing a shot that proved powerful enough to slip through Sam Archer’s hands and into the net. There may have been some arguments on whether the ball crossed the line, but Amir Ibragimov smashed it into the back of the goal to be on the safe side.
A penalty in the final five minutes, coolly placed beyond the goalkeeper by Gabriele Biancheri, gave the hosts a nervy finish with seven minutes of injury time added on, but our late flurry of goals would arrive just too late to complete the comeback.
