This was genuine Chelsea kids versus genuine Arsenal kids with all 20 outfield players in their teens and just as likely to be seen in the youth team as the reserves.
A little more composed finishing and there would have been goals. Arsenal struck woodwork once and had the better of the first-half with Chelsea playing brightly in the second.
There was an even start to the game but it took a diving header from San Hutchinson to prevent Yves Ma Kalambay being tested by a well struck shot from Arsenal striker Jay Simpson on 12 minutes.
Four minutes later, Arsenal broke through again and the same player lofted a chip over the bar as the enormous frame of Ma Kalambay closed him down very quickly. An understandable rushed effort given the circumstances!
Arsenal were gaining a firm upper hand and had Vincent van den Berg gone for anything like power as he rolled the ball past the Chelsea keeper towards the net then Hutchinson wouldn't haven't had a prayer. Instead the young centre-back hacked off the line to keep it scoreless with 20 minutes gone.
Chelsea showed a brief spark when Sahar went for the jugular and ran straight at the heart of the Gunners' defence but was dispossessed by the final challenge. Then Arsenal stretched the home side's rearguard again.
The ball was worked to the left to Kieran Gibbs who saw his low shot beat Ma Kalambay but rebound off the far post before being cleared.
The conditions were awful with steady rain and a strong swirling wind. The pitch was hardly conducive to good play either. But that didn't prevent Sahar embarking on a thrilling run down the left wing before cutting in and drilling a shot the wrong side of the near post.
Chelsea lost Ryan Bertrand three minute before the break to injury, the left-back having struggled on for quite some minutes. Jonas Elmer was the replacement.
At half-time there was a second Chelsea switch - the swapping of one Portuguese for another on the right wing with the bustle of Ricardo Fernandes making way for the pace of Fabio Ferreira.
When the new arrival broke onto Michael Woods's ball and struck a low pass in, Sahar laid it back for Sergio Tejera to find the net. But Chelsea celebrations did not endure as Sahar had been ruled offside, somewhat harshly.
Chelsea needed greater control of midfield if they were to provide the likes of Sahar up front with anything like a steady supply of service. Right-back Shaun Cummings attempted to make inroads down the flank but was upended by Rene Steer who was booked.
Liam Bridcutt became the first Chelsea booking soon after for handballing Ma Kalambay's wind affected clearance upfield.
The Arsenal keeper distinguished himself when he held onto Sahar's glanced header from a Stoch cross with 15 minutes to go.
How Chelsea didn't win the game in the final three minutes, they must have been asking themselves all the way back to Cobham on the coach.
When Ferreira escaped the full-back's challenge and laid a perfect pass on for Sahar, the team's top scorer miskicked badly. Then when Ferreira retrieved the situation, Stoch blasted his close-range angled shot across the target and wide.
Arsenal too had a last gasp chance but James Dunne smacked his first time 15-yard effort wide with plenty of the goal at which to aim.
A crowd of 3119 had watched a match for which a draw was on balance a fair result.
Chelsea:
Yves Ma Kalambay; Shaun Cummings, Liam Bridcutt, Sam Hutchinson, Ryan Bertrand (Jonas Elmer 42); Michael Woods, Sergio Tejera, Lee Sawyer, Ricardo Fernandes (Fabio Ferreira h-t), Ben Sahar, Miroslav Stoch.
Arsenal:
Mart Poom, Abumere Ogogo, Rene Steer, Francisco Merida Perez, Gavin Hoyte, Matthew Connolly (c), James Dunne, Mark Randall (Henri Lansbury 64), Jay Simpson (Rui Fonte 57), Vincent Van Den Berg (Giorgos Efrem 57), Kieran Gibbs.
Source: http://www.chelseafc.com