County Antrim 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
County Antrim ensured they would remain unbeaten on Tuesday afternoon by recording a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur at the 2025 Budget Energy SuperCupNI.
The Reds capitalised on having home advantage in Broughshane, whilst Spurs struggled to repeat their scoring exploits after putting five past Charlton on Monday.
Both teams pushed forward in the opening minutes of the game before Antrim went ahead on five minutes. Michael Mulholland probed well on the left prior to producing a low finish – scoring his third goal at this year’s tournament so far.
Spurs had opportunities to equalise as they initiated a spell of pressure midway through the half. Kaiden Burke and Anthony Brown looked dangerous in the 21st minute although Brown’s resulting shot was saved by Kaysan Tijani-Braniff in the Antrim goal.
The Londoners’ frontline continued to pose a threat before Gerald Qirjazi joined the attack on 33 minutes. He tried to get his name on the scoresheet with a strike which was deflected into the arms of Tijani-Braniff.
Mulholland almost added a second, for himself and Antrim, with a minute of the first half to play. The centre-forward fired across goal from the right but Teddy Brown did well to palm behind.
Tottenham had a glorious chance to level the scores seven minutes after the break following good play by Burke. His low, teasing delivery was begging to be finished but Anthony Brown just couldn’t stretch far enough to meet it.
Antrim doubled their lead almost immediately through a long-range free-kick. Defender Noah Stewart stepped up from just inside the Spurs half and surprised everyone as he managed to find the bottom left corner.
The two teams looked to their respective benches in the second half. County Antrim substitute Senan Wright nearly nodded the ball home after he had come on in place of Mulholland.
Spurs’ reinforcements also came close to making an impact. Mason Chivers and Semande Ekundayo queued up behind Anthony Brown but the ball wouldn’t fall for any of the three players.
However, the Lilywhites did secure a late consolation goal with a minute to go in the form of an own goal. Stewart was the unfortunate Antrim defender when the ball took a massive deflection off him and left Tijani-Braniff with no chance.
County Antrim: Tijani-Braniff, Long, Ennis, Stewart, Lavery, Devlin-Amoh (Leighton, 52), Calderwood, Clarke (Stiobhard, 46), Camlin (Corrigan, 56), Mulholland (Wright, 56), Henderson (Green, 56)
Unused subs: Allen, Briggs
Tottenham Hotspur: T. Brown (Lewin, 47), Milburn, Etienne-Crone, Ebanks (Johnson, 61), Peal, Rafferty (Bediako, 47), Missah, Qirjazi (Ekundayo, 61), Burke, A. Brown (Chivers, 47), Haughton-Sinclair
Unused subs: N/A