Tottenham Hotspur Ladies -

First Team reports 2003-04

Zoella Freeman opened her account with a double helping, while new signing from Hitchin Town, Leah Flintham scored a hat-trick on her debut.  Spurs fielded some of the players who impressed in the summer trials and Kehinde hit a hat trick and another player scored twice.

New signing 'Kenne' scored two more goals, while Zoella Freeman stuck away another, Gill Blackmore headed in a Farnum cross, before Sam scored a goal of her own with a screaming shot from outside the box.  Leah Flintham completed the scoring with a penalty after Jackie Fearon was upended in the area and Premiership referee Dermot Gallagher pointed to the spot.

Manager Pete Skinner said it was a "very good team performance on the hottest day ever recorded just a couple of miles away up the road at Heathrow.  Cas Brown impressed with a particularly solid display."

Keynsham looked liked a team looking for a victory in this their 10th anniversary match and it didn't take long for the Keynsham front line to stamp their authority on the game with a very well taken early goal.

This was followed by some very good pressure by Keynsham and an  inevitable, second, well taken goal, almost a carbon copy of the first and a much changed Spurs defence struggled to match the pace and determination of the opposition strike force.

The Ladies then settled into the game and deservedly pulled one back just before half time with Freeman chipping the Keynsham keeper.

The second half saw a more determined Spurs side slowly fight their way back into the game and a headed goal from captain Jackie Fearon and a well taken poached effort from Latoyah Johnson saw the Ladies take the lead and start to show a little of the form that has been so evident of late, but missing for the first half of this match.

A second Johnson goal put the match beyond Keynsham but in the dying minutes they had a reasonable penalty appeal turned down and then saw what was without doubt goal of the match and possibly the season from Sabic left Spurs hanging on for a nervous 4-3 victory.  The only sour note was seeing Spurs debutant and player of the match  Monica McPeak leaving the field needing hospital treatment in the 80th minute following a strong headed challenge.

Spurs Ladies manager Pete Skinner said "the game was a fantastic advert for the women's game and Keynsham not only offered some fantastic hospitality on the day, but pushed the ladies all the way in a hard fought match."

Played at the neat Tilbury FC ground, the side were given a flying start when Latoyah Johnson slid in at the far post to volley home a Lucy Auguste free-kick from the right wing within 61 seconds of the kick-off.  Lucy almost extended the lead after three minutes with a free-kick from the opposite side that came back off the crossbar.

The play was almost entirely in the home side's half and Gill Blackmore hit a shot over the bar and Zoella Freeman curled an effort a foot wide cutting in from the left.  With eight minutes on the clock, Zoella headed on a through ball and Leah Flintham beat the keeper to it and get a touch on the ball to dribble it into the net.  Straight from the re-start, Zoella won a tackle and was only denied by the keeper at the end of a solo run, then again went close after a run down the left wing finished with a curling shot just wide on the keeper's right. 

Latoyah was also causing plenty of problems for the Dockers defence, as she nipped in on the blind side to almost steal in on a loose back-pass, but then on the quarter hour mark, she did get in behind the defence to convert Lucy Auguste's corner with a volley.  Her hat-trick was completed six minutes after when Lucy put her through to slip the ball past the goalie.

With 26 minutes gone, Sam Farnum was denied by the keeper, Lucy blazed over and Leah had two chances to make it 5-0, but  got Zoella got her reward for a hard-working performance in her new role by racing on to a through ball and lobbing the keeper in the 28th minute.

Five minutes later, Leah raced through onto another ball through the middle of the Thurrock defence and although the centre-forward was denied by the keeper first time, she got a second bite and stroked the ball home to make it six.  Leah had three more opportunities before the break and Zoella flicked the ball up to hit a 25 yard volley that dipped just over the bar.  The most serious threat on the Spurs goal came right on half-time, when the ball floated across the face of the goal from a free-kick with the Thurrock and Tilbury forwards just unable to get a firm enough contact on the ball.

Tottenham started the second half as they had the first and Zoella was unlucky not to score, with a good save from the home keeper denying her and she had to be alert to beat Leah to a Zoella cross a minute later.  Gill Blackmore had the keeper scrambling to a shot that just faded wide, while Leah had two shots on goal, one an acrobatic volley and sub Cristina Oshodi pulled her shot wide from inside the area.  Seven minutes of the second half had gone, when Lucy Auguste took a corner on the right wing, which beat everyone in the box and ended up in the net.  It broke the ice on a second half, where Tottenham's shooting boots appeared to have been left in the dressing room.

However, this was soon rectified as Cristina hit the side-netting and in the next attack Spurs went 8-0 up, just ten minutes into the half.  Leah got the ball and ran through on goal to once again beat the keeper.  It looked as though Natalie Porter had made it nine, slotting home at the far post, but an offside flag ruled that effort out.  The respite was short-lived though, as Leah hit her fourth of the match from the penalty spot just after the hour, after fooling her marker with a neat turn in the area, leading to her legs being taken from under her.

Straight from the kick-off, the referee awarded a controversial free-kick against the mainly unoccupied Tina Hills, for handling outside her penalty area.  It appeared that she had taken the ball on the right side of the line, but the referee placed the ball a couple of yards outside the 18 yard box.  Fortunately for Spurs, the ball flew over the bar from the dead ball kick.  It was the wake-up call Tottenham needed and Zoella shot wide when through, before a clever 67th minute move down the right between Samrawit Bereket and Natalie ended with the latter scoring with a low shot from a very tight angle.  That took the Tottenham score into double figures.

Still hungry for goals, Leah struck again in the 71st minute, beating the goalkeeper off the post and then hit the bar shortly after; the rebound falling to Latoyah for a shot, which being blocked by a defender.  Natalie Porter was injured in the next piece of action and while she was off the pitch, Thurrock broke away and after a defensive mix-up, the ball was played square into the area and Dion Henry scored at the far post to give the home side the goal their fans had been singing for.

With a late Oshodi shot saved, the ref blew the final whistle to bring to an end the first match of Tottenham's 2003-04 season.  It might have been a big win, but manager Pete Skinner was more pleased with the overall performance. "The Ladies adapted to the new system well and played a good passing game on a nice pitch.  I was particularly happy with the effort they put into their game, which helped ensure that there was no way back for Thurrock.  There will be harder games to come, but this sets us up nicely for the start of our League programme next week." 

Spurs set their stall out with lots of early pressure and good efforts from Freeman and Johnson , but it wasn't long before Edgware started to force their way back into the game with some strong tackles that then saw Freeman and Yonatan cautioned for meeting force with a little too much force of their own.

Spurs Took the lead with a league debut goal for new signing Kehinde Ogunneye meeting Zoella's cross with a superb headed goal in the 21st minute but one minute later Edgware replied with an identical header beating Hills in the Spurs goal.

In the space of a few minutes Edgware took the lead with a goal from a player in an offside position but the referee deemed had been played in by a Tottenham player overruling his assistant's flag on the touchline.

This was the signal for Spurs to up their game and some sustained pressure was rewarded with Blackmore playing in Zoella for a much deserved goal floating the ball in  from 20 yards.  More pressure resulted in a penalty for the Spurs Ladies with the offending defender being sent off after remonstrating with the referee Flintham stepped up to coolly slot home the pen 3-2 Spurs.

Then the home side completely lost their composure after a challenge , ruled fair by the referee who claimed to have a good view of the incident ,saw an Edgware player lose a tooth and her cool chasing the referee up the field and was duly sent off. Play resumed after a five minute interruption to look for the lost tooth.

The two player advantage now saw Spurs take control Leah was felled in the box and again converted the spot kick and there was time for Tottenham's fifth before half time as Latoyah crossed the ball only for the Edgware keeper mis-handle and fumble into her own net.

The second half started with Freeman getting her second of the game converting a Flintham cross and this was Leah's last contribution of the game making way for Oshodi in the 52nd minute.

It didn't take long for Crissy to make her mark with a superb long ball to Kehinde who then grabbed her second of the match and Spurs seventh.  This was the signal  for Spurs to bring on fresh legs in the shape of Herrett and Porter for Johnson and Yonatan and it paid off almost straight away with the Oshodi-Kehinde combination seeing Kehinde get a hat-trick in her league debut from a sublime Crissy trademark cross.

Never one to be out done Zoella then completed her hat-trick from a Porter cross.

Spurs then had a period of sustained possession and really made the extra numbers count with the scoring being completed in the very last minute with a Sparrow corner being neatly finished by Kehinde once again.

The visitors frustrated Spurs in the opening passages of the game, with Crissy Osohdi having a shot blocked, Lucy Auguste directing her header wide and Lorraine Sparrow hitting the post after getting onto a header by Gill Blackmore from a Lucy free-kick.

Leah Flintham stretched, but could not reach another free-kick to get a volley on the ball, while Kerry Daniells got in on the act with an effort from near the halfway line that was only just wide.  The goal was coming and it arrived in the 28th minute, when Lucy Auguste hit a free-kick, from about 15 yards out wide on the right, sending it flying across the keeper and into the far top corner.

Toni Munro was called into action to dive at the feet of a London Women forward, before the away keeper was brought into play again.  Firstly, she did well to keep out a Lucy free-kick from inside the centre circle and then got a fierce volley from Jackie Fearon right in the face from very close range.  It left her needing a lengthy spell of treatment and thankfully, she was able to continue.

Spurs took the slim lead into the second half, but it was doubled in only four minutes, when Jackie headed the ball over a defender, controlled it and lashed a drive across the keeper and into the far corner of the net.  It was almost three a couple of minutes after, when Zoella Freeman had a shot cleared off the line and Jackie squeezed the ball just wide in the aftermath of the goalmouth scramble.

Leah was pushing hard for a goal and twice went close, Gill shot across the face of the goal and then Leah was stopped by the keeper plunging at her feet.  With London Women looking to get back in the game, they fired over the bar from a corner, but with 72 minutes on the clock, Tottenham failed to clear a free-kick and ex-Spur Lorraine Etherington (nee Ashard) netted against her former club.

Spurs needed to get the two goal gap back and Leah had a header go close, while Zoella got her shot over the bar when inside the box.  The final goal of the match did go Spurs' way and came from a Lucy corner, which was bundled in at the near post by two defenders, who were trying to clear it.

The goal rushes of the last two weeks were stemmed by a resolute London Women side, who worked hard and caused some consternation among the Spurs players when they found it hard to put the game beyond their reach.  But full credit goes to the visitors who closed Spurs down and defended with true grit.

The first half was almost all going Spurs way, with keeper Toni Munro only having a couple of touches and one save to make, in which she sustained a knock on the head.

As early as the 8th minute, Spurs had gone in front thanks to Jackie Fearon's curling left foot shot from the edge of the box.  Leah Flintham almost added to the score, when she blocked a clearance, had her shot saved and the follow-up was bundled wide by a Haringey defender.  It was only two minutes later that Tottenham did make it two, when Leah raced away from the halfway line and unselfishly squared the ball across the box for Latoyah to knock it in from ten yards out.  

The bumpy pitch made it tricky for Spurs to play their normal passing game, but the space afforded by Borough made it easy to stretch play out and the pace of the Tottenham forwards constantly troubled the home defence.  In the 21st minute, a deep Auguste corner was met with a firm header by Kenne Ogunneye and the ball flew in at the post to give Tottenham a 3-0 lead.

Just three minutes later, misfortune befell Haringey, when their goalkeeper Kim Bortley fell on her hand and required about five minutes of treatment before leaving the field having dislocated her finger.  With a replacement keeper in goal, Tottenham failed to test her, as most of their shots in this phase of the match were wide, but with a minute to go until the break, Kenne won a kick-out form the keeper, runs straight through the middle of the Haringey defence and prodded past the goalie who was rooted to her line to make it 4-0 at the interval.

After the break, Tottenham found it a little more difficult to break down the home side, but wrapped up the win with further goals from Kenne rounding off her hat-trick, Leah and Latoyah to make a magnificent seven in the 'goals for' column to move them into the First round proper  !!

The solitary goal came from a corner in the 32nd minute of the second half, which bobbled around the box before being put in by swinging shot from an O's striker.  It was the only shot on target by the away side in the whole match, with Toni Munro only having to deal with a couple of crosses and a couple of long balls forward, which she had to come out to claim.

Spurs had the best of the first half, as Orient struggled to string their passes together.  Things got quite heated at one point and it looked as though their players were getting annoyed with each other from some of the comments made and the fact that the referee had to speak to one of them.  However, Tottenham went about their game and Latoyah Johnson was causing lots of problems down the left until she had to leave the action, after being injured in the time added on at the end of the first half.  Twice Latoyah drew the keeper into saves and the best effort was just knocked aside for a corner by an Orient player as the Spurs winger ran through the left hand channel to lift the ball over the keeper.

It was with some disappointment that Spurs failed to make anything of the numerous dead-ball situations they had in the first half, as foul after foul gave Tottenham the chance to create something from the free-kicks that came their way.  The Orient goalie was called into action with almost the last kick of the half, when Leah Flintham hit a shot form 8 yards, which was pushed up into the air and grabbed at the second attempt.

In the second half, the Orient players exasperation grew to the extent that one of their players was booked for kicking the ball away.  However, Spurs kept moving the ball forward and Leah was denied by the keeper rushing to the edge of her box and then she hit a bouncing ball just wide from about 25 yards out.  Orient made a couple of rare forays into the Tottenham box and their strikers completely missed balls into their path, either side of the goal, when the ball flew through a maze of legs and in at the far post.

Zoella missed a low Leah cross into the penalty area and then a real moment of controversy arose with just five minutes remaining.  The referee awarded Spurs a free-kick on inside the area as the goalkeeper had taken too long in clearing the ball from her hands.  He was meticulous on getting the wall back ten yards and when Jackie Fearon touched the ball sideways for Crissy Oshodi to hit home via a deflection, the official ruled that the kick should be taken again as the wall had encroached from their original position.  The re-taken free-kick was blocked and the chance was gone.  As were Tottenham's chances of winning this match.  A Zoella lob that went just a foot wide was the last chance and as time ran out, the result was going away from the Ladies and when the unmarked Orient Number nine volleyed wide from six yards out, it showed that the line between success and failure is very thin.

Dagenham took an early lead in a match where Spurs struggled with the whirlwind pace at first, but as the two teams settled the ladies found their feet and it didn't take long for Leah Flintham to equalise from a superb piece of team play from the ladies.

The rest of the first half saw Spurs dominate with a strong wind in their favour and were unlucky not to take the lead with captain Fearon netting, only to find her effort ruled out for offside.

The second half started much the same as the first with Daggers starting strongly and making much more advantage of the wind than Spurs managed in the first half.  This saw some strong pressure and and the inevitable goal ... 2-1 Dagenham.

With hardly any attacks in the second half, Spurs resorted to bringing on an attacking wing back in Samrawit Bereket and changing to a 3-5-2 system and saw instant results with a Herrett free kick being converted by Ogunneye.

This was the signal for the ladies to mirror the first half with constant pressure on their opponent's goal and Ogunneye sent the ladies ahead for the first time in the game.  However as is the case in five of our last six encounters, Dagenham equalised just before the 90 minutes were up to square the game.

This was a thrilling match and sets us up nicely for our FA Cup encounter at the Glyn Hopkin stadium in two weeks time.

Having the large majority of the possession, Tottenham failed to turn it into goals, as they struggled to cope with a determined Edgware side and a difficult wind.  This was particularly so, in the first half, when a procession of corners were not used to their best effect and the scrambles that some of them produced were not forced home.  This meant that Tottenham had to settle for a single goal from Zoella Freeman, shaking off her marker neatly in the area after Leah Flintham had prodded the ball forward.  Zoella showed her cool finishing technique in slipping the ball past the keeper without giving her a chance to set herself for the 21st minute shot.

Spurs' lead was short-lived, as some lack of communication in the defence saw a back-pass picked up by Toni Munro and an indirect free-kick awarded.  The ball was placed just a yard off the line and was played back to be fired past the wall and keeper to restore parity after just two minutes.

Two opportunities to regain the lead came Tottenham's way in the last five minutes of the half, with a high bounce from Lorraine Sparrow's cross almost foxing the Edgware keeper and then another high ball played into the area being volleyed goalwards by Leah, but she was denied at close-range by the goalie.

The second half was a similar story with Edgware only breaking out of their half once to achieve a shot on target.  Spurs piled on the pressure, but caused the visiting keeper little trouble until the last 25 minutes.

Both Latoyah Johnson and Kenne Ogguneye had shots over the bar, before Spurs took the lead again.  With 67 minutes on the clock, Kenne made a run down the left wing and floated over a cross to the far post, where Leah met it with a volley that left the keeper helpless.

Further chances presented themselves when Latoyah hit a 20 yard shot that the keeper pushed around for a corner and from that dead-ball situation, Leah headed just wide of the post.  Jackie Fearon headed another corner just over the bar, while Gill Blackmore was denied by a defender's leg knocking the ball away from the line when a shot looked like finding the net.

Then with three minutes left, Latoyah found herself on the left hand side of the area and looked to be in on goal until her legs were taken from under her, leaving the referee with an easy decision to give the penalty.  Up stepped Leah Flintham to convert it and give Spurs a 3-1 lead.  With a large amount of added time to be played for the numerous stoppages to give Edgware's players treatment, Spurs capitalised on a tiring defence and wrapped up the scoring with a fourth goal.  A high ball into the area bounced over Zoella's head and Kenne was on hand to sweep the ball low into the back of the net.

Although the scoreline was not reflective of the possession the side had, the build-up play was generally good and the team will be glad of the tough work-out ahead of next week's FA Cup tie at Dagenham & Redbridge.

It was a keenly contested match with the kick-off at High Noon.  The Spurs girls were really up for the game with the knowledge that a victory would not only put them through to the next round, but also see the match reward money of £250 going to the Breast Cancer Research Campaign.

Spurs threatened as early as the 5th minute when Leah Flintham shot wide and three minutes later Latoyah Johnson had a fine shot from around 12 yards saved as it headed for the top corner.  Toni Munro then saved an effort form a home striker comfortably at the other end, while Kehinde Ogunneye brought an excellent point blank save from the Daggers keeper after the ball had pin-balled in the area.

On 12 minutes the Daggers keeper was again called into action, this time having to claw out an in-swinging corner from Lucy Auguste.  A minute later Spurs deservedly broke the deadlock when Lucy Auguste went on a run upfield and her attempted shot fell for Zoella Freeman to coolly slot home.

Leah Flintham then had a shot well saved at the near post and the keeper scrambled away a shot on the volley from Zoella at the foot of the post.  Gill Blackmore had a shot from the edge of the area saved by the keeper, before Dagenham had a spell of pressure with four or five corners, but the Tottenham defence held firm.  In the 27th minute Dagenham broke free following Spurs pressure and shot wide of Toni Munro's goal.  Jackie Fearon just failed to connect with a header from Lucy's free kick and  then Lucy had a shot herself, from around 30 yards, which flew wide.

The second Spurs goal came in the 37th minute as Zoella Freeman broke into the area and was pulled to the ground. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.  Leah Flintham stepped up and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way before planting the ball into the net to make it 2-0.  The penalty may have been well executed, but the attempted Robbie Keane celebration somersault needs a little more work on it.

Dagenham had a couple of chances at the end of the half shooting wide and Toni making a comfortable save, but it was left to Lucy Auguste to finish the half with another 30 yard shot wide of the target.

Dagenham came out for the second half determined to get back into the game and pulled a goal back just three minutes after the restart.  There was then a lengthy delay of some 12 minutes, when Gill Blackmore was fouled and needed treatment for breathing difficulties eventually being taken from the field on a stretcher.  Crissy Oshodi came on as replacement for Gill.

Leah had another shot easily saved, but then after about 25 minutes of second half, Dagenham equalised after some indecision in the Spurs defence.  

Two minutes later Latoyah was again denied by the Daggers keeper from close range, while both Leah and Zoella shot over the bar and at the other end Toni gathered well under pressure.

Zoella then hit the post from Leah's pass and it seemed the tie was heading for extra-time, in a repeat of last year's match.  That wasn't necessary because Lorraine Sparrow played a ball into the area which beat the defender and Latoyah Johnson nipped in before the keeper could claim it, to score with a brave close range header.

Entering into time added on, Zoella Freeman had a further two shots over the bar and Kenne Ogunneye shot over from Lucy's corner.   Jenny Homer came on to replace Latoyah Johnson who was injured after falling awkwardly after a challenge.

The referee blew the final whistle on a half that had lasted an hour and three minutes with all the stoppages for the Spurs girls, who came into this game as the outsiders to emerge with a hard-earned victory over high-riding Dagenham and Redbridge.