Everton Under-18s twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Finch Farm on Saturday morning.
The visitors led through Shayon Harrison and Luke Amos but goals from Nathan Holland and Michael Donohue rescued a point for the Blues.
The result leaves Everton in a strong position as they look to secure back-to-back league titles.
Everton had their first chance of the game within three minutes when Donohue’s cross was cleared to Jack Bainbridge on the edge of the box but the midfielder couldn’t keep his effort down.
But the young Blues would then struggle to get a foot hold in the game with windy conditions making it hard for the players to find any rhythm and it was Tottenham who struck first.
Shayon Harrison had earlier seen two strikes go just wide of the Everton goal and so it was third time lucky for the striker when he fired hard and low into the bottom corner after the Blues failed to clear their lines.
But the visitors would only be ahead for five minutes.
The Toffees broke quickly from their own half and Liam Walsh played in Holland on the left-hand side who took one touch before supplying a cool finish past the oncoming Thomas Glover in the Tottenham goal.
Everton, now playing with the wind, began the second half on the front foot with Bainbridge going close with a header.
Tottenham then had a chance of their own when Kyle-Walker Peters was played in on the left-hand side but with just the keeper to beat, the defender dragged his shot wide.
However, it wouldn’t be long before the visitors were back ahead as captain Luke Amos brilliantly diverted a goal-bound effort past Hewelt to give his side a 2-1 lead with just 30 minutes remaining.
Despite going behind, the young Blues showed no signs of giving up and substitute Nathan Broadhead went close to levelling the game.
Great combination play from Delial Brewster and Broadhead allowed the latter to get a shot on goal but his effort was saved well by Glover.
Both sides would then have to play the remaining eight minutes with 10 men after Walsh and Amos were both shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident.
After the sending off, the Toffees continued to search for a much-deserved equaliser and they got just that through Donohue.
From a throw-in on the right-hand side, Bainbridge controlled the ball and turned his defender before unleashing a shot.
His effort was blocked but the ball fell into the path of Donohue who made no mistake and fired home to secure an important point for the Blues.
Academy Coach Kevin Sheedy has now urged his side to win their remaining four games in the final phase of the Under-18 Premier League and retain their title.
“It was a real good game between two good teams,” he said. “Tottenham were really good, we weren’t at our best to be fair but we hung in there and got a deserved draw.
“We’ve got four more games to play now so if we win those next four games, we’ll win the league which is a great carrot for the players to have.
“They’ve worked extremely hard right the way through the season, we won the league last year so it’s a challenge for them in the next four games to see if they can rise to that challenge.
“We’ve certainly gave ourselves a great opportunity and we’ve got a real good game against Manchester United next weekend which we are all looking forward too.”
Everton U18s: Hewelt, Birch, Yates, Graham, Thorniley, Walsh, Donohue, Bainbridge, Brewster, Charsley, Holland (Subs: O’Loughlin, Broadhead, Myers, Evans, Bramall).
Tottenham Hotspur U18s: Glove, Walker-Peters, Muscat, Amos, Maghom, Walkes, Daly, Stylianides, Harrison, Owens, Azzaoui (Subs: Goddard, McDermott, Georgiou, Loft, Marsh).