Harrison McMahon gave the away side an early lead in the London derby before Chizaram Ezenwata doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time with long balls over our defence twice our downfall.

Captain James Rowswell gave us late hope with a first-time finish from a corner to halve the deficit on 76 minutes and substitute Max McFadden came inches away from equalising moments later but Ezenwata doubled his tally in second-half stoppage-time as we tasted defeat for the first time in seven league games.

Following a well-observed two-minute silence as part of Remembrance Day from players, staff and the crowd in attendance on a chilly Sunday afternoon at the SPORTA Arena in Stevenage, the away side caught us cold early on when Samual Archer was called into action to brilliantly deny Sol Gordon in a one-versus-one on three minutes.

That chance came from a pass over our high defensive line and a similar scenario was our undoing for the opener four minutes later. This time, Reggie Watson found space in the middle of the pitch and picked out the run of McMahon from midfield who rounded Archer before applying the finish.

Showing signs of warming up after going a goal behind, centre-back Alfie Dorrington led the charge to create our first opportunity for Callum Olusesi on 12 minutes. The centre-back - drafted into starting side prior to kick-off following Malachi Hardy's injury in the warmup - intercepted at the back and was played in behind the defence by Tyrese Hall before squaring for Olusesi who shot straight at goalkeeper Freddy Bernal.

After Elisha Sowunmi's curling attempt whistled narrowly over the crossbar a minute later, we had Maeson King to thank at the other end when he produced a sliding goal-line clearance to deny Gordon with Archer then able to quickly recover to keep out Leo Cardoso's effort on the rebound in the 18th minute. Finding it difficult to engineer any clearcut opportunities in open play, we almost capitalised on a mistake at the back when Bernal passed straight to Harry Byrne 25 yards out who sent a fierce left-footed drive that looked destined for the far top corner but the Blues 'keeper made amends to tip over the crossbar in the 27th minute.

However, as a tight and cagey first half neared its conclusion, another long ball was our downfall when a slight lack of defensive organisation from a cleared corner saw Ezenwata latch on to a speculative punt up field from his goalkeeper and the striker finished low at the near post to double their lead at the break.

A strong response after the break brought a much-improved start to the half and we almost got a foothold back in the game just 50 seconds in when Tyrese Hall's dangerous cross from the right was cleared off Byrne's toes by a recovering Justin Osagie. The Chelsea defender was needed again minutes later to react quickest to James Rowswell's low cross into the six-yard box and clear for a corner as we looked to capitalise on our first real positive spell in the contest.

The visitors managed to weather the early storm which led to Wayne Burnett making a triple change midway through the half and substitute George Feeney won the corner which led to Rowswell giving us a lifeline with 14 minutes of normal time remaining. Tyrese Hall's outswinging set piece then picked out our skipper who swept a first-time finish from the near post into the opposite corner.

Our substitutes almost carved out an equaliser seven minutes later when Ellis Lehane's blocked shot fell to an unmarked McFadden inside the box but the midfielder volleyed wide of the upright with the goal at his mercy. As we pressed in search of a late leveller, our urgency unfortunately led to Chelsea's third when a quick free-kick near our own corner flag was intercepted by Harrison Bettoni in the area and Archer's save fell kindly to Ezenwata who put the contest to bed.

Up next, following the November international break, Wayne Burnett's side return to action with a trip to League One side Oxford United in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday 24 November.

Line-ups

Spurs: Archer, Rowswell (c), King, Byfield (Feeney 67), Dorrington, Byrne, Sowunmi (Lehane 67), Tye Hall, Tyrese Hall, Olusesi (McFadden 67), Elliott-Paris (Ramsey 72). Substitutes (not used): Doran, Moncur, Adedeji.

Chelsea: Bernal, Black, Subuloye (c), Osagie, Diakite, Watson, Cardoso (Bettoni 72), McMahon, Ezenwata, Paez (Rabbaj 78), Gordon. Substitutes (not used): Bell, Waite, Osborne, Colkett, Trialist.

Match data

Goals: Spurs - Rowswell 76; Chelsea - McMahon 7, Ezenwata 42, 90+1.

Yellow cards: Spurs - Dorrington 64, Elliott-Paris 65, King 71, Tye Hall 90+4; Chelsea - Paez 33, Osagie 39, Black 78.

Referee: Alan Dale.

Venue: SPORTA Arena, Stevenage.

Attendance - 535.

Weather: Cloudy, nine degrees.