A scorching hot day welcomed the first
team back to action in this pre-season friendly against Staines Town.
Although two divisions below Spurs, the
West London side (formerly Hampton Ladies) played a skillful game and
tested the young and much changed Spurs Ladies side.
Spurs took the lead when a long free-kick
from captain Kelly Herrett bounced in the penalty area and confounded
the Staines keeper by looping up over her off the hard pitch to go into
the net.
The Spurs defence were given a few
worrying moments as Staines tried to get back into the game.
However, the ball was passed out by Jade Perrin to Rosi Webb, just
inside the left corner of the area, from where the striker struck a
rising shot across the keeper to double the lead right on half-time.
Nine minutes into the second half,
Samrawit Bereket was brought down in the penalty area and a spot-kick
was awarded. Rosi stepped up to take the responsibility, but put
her shot to close to the keeper and from the save, the loose ball was
shot towards goal again by Webb, but the goalie saved for a second time.
Halfway through the half, Spurs Ladies
made the breakthrough for the third goal. Jenna Brailey had a good
game on her debut and opened up the Staines defence with an astute pass
through to Ebony Heath, who took an early low shot to beat the keeper at
the post.
With just under a quarter of an hour
left, Staines got the goal their performance richly deserved and
following an explosive shot from outside the box that rebounded off
Laura May's crossbar, the ball was headed into the net to make the score
3-1. The visitors had created a number of chances, but their
finishing was often off target and when it did find it's intended
destination, they found Laura in fine form, making one superb diving tip
around the post.
Chanelle Breen marked her return to the
club with a goal. Latching onto a long through ball from Samrawit,
she took the ball into the right hand side of the box and slid her shot
across the keeper to make the final score 4-1.
It was a good workout for Jackie Fearon's
side and Staines were a solid, compact team and good opposition.
Photos from the game can be
viewed by clicking
here.
London &
South-East Regional Women's Football League - Premier Division
The
first match of the season saw the new look team travel to play London
Women.
Spurs
were caught cold in the first minute of the game, when the London winger
skipped past two tackles and had a speculative shot. This looped
up in the air and Spurs failed to clear their lines and the ball went
over the head of Laura to make it 1-0.
This shocked Tottenham into life, as they started playing some nice
football and had a few chances. Then another lapse in
concentration led to a free kick, seemingly harmlessly near the half way
line. A hopeful punt forward ended up bouncing straight over the
keeper and into the back of the net for 2-0.
Lots
of Spurs pressure followed and some excellent passing play, which saw
them take the game to London and the team were rewarded near the end of
the half with a goal straight from a Rosi Webb corner, that was fumbled
into the net by the keeper bringing it back to 2-1 at the break.
There were some changes on the half
time whistle, as debutant Chanelle Breen was taken off and replaced by
Geena Gordon.
In
the second half, Spurs continued their passing game and were again
rewarded after good work down the right hand side from player of the
match Samrawit Bereket, who crossed the ball where it was volleyed into
the roof of the net by Geena Gordon to level things up at 2-2.
Spurs continued to press for the winner
and were ahead for the first time after more good work and interplay
from Webb, Homer and Bereket, with the winger crossing the ball for a
glancing header from Homer to end up in the back of the net.
With
Spurs fully in control of the game, the referee awarded London a dubious
penalty, that was slotted home to peg Tottenham back at 3-3.
With the young Spurs side rocked by
some atrocious refereeing decisions, London took advantage and scored a
fourth to deny Spurs a point.
Manager Jackie Fearon
said after the game, "There were
lots of positives to take from the match, from a young side that will
become stronger and stronger."
Spurs Ladies were
knocked out of the WFA Cup by a determined and physical Sawbridgeworth
Town side.
The game hardly got into any rhythm,
because of the constant free-kicks and injuries that had to be treated
and the game was won with Sawbridgeworth's one shot on target.
Tottenham had the chance to go ahead,
when a late tackle on Rosi Webb brought the award of a penalty, but
after converting the spot-kick, the referee made her take it again after
a Town defender managed to enter the penalty area and the retaken effort
narrowly missed the goal.
Unfortunately, the match was marred by
some youth members of the home club who had to be removed from behind
the Spurs goal by the referee, as they had been abusing Spurs players
and officials.
Tottenham Hotspur
: -
1
Laura
May
13
Mary
Griffiths (89 mins. sub. 17 - Sarah Green)
28
Rochelle
Alexandra
5
Kelly
Herrett (c)
8
Carly
Snell
11
Samrawit
Bereket
24
Mel
Berry (77 mins. 7 - Chanelle
Breen)
4
Jenna
Brailey
9
Geena
Gordon
14
Rosi
Webb
12
Ebony
Heath (71 mins. 22 - Jade Perrin)
Unused
Subs
2
- Di
Gardiner, 19 - Collette McAllister
Photos
of the game can be viewed by clicking here.
Spurs travelled
to Long Lane in their first entry into the London Cup. In the
first quarter of the game, the young Spurs side stood up well to a very
physical and organised Long Lane side.
On the quarter hour, a speculative shot at the Spurs goal looked to be
comfortable for the keeper, but the ball hit a divot and went through
the keepers legs to put the home side ahead 1-0.
Spurs kept battling and tested the Long Lane keeper, including one
goalmouth scramble that was eventually cleared, but were unable to take
their chances and draw level. Just before half time Long Lane
broke down the right hand side, where their winger evaded two tackles,
pulled the ball back and the Long Lane player hit a ball from the edge
of the box into the corner of the Spurs net to make the home side two
ahead at the interval.
The team regrouped after the break and successfully pinned Long Lane
back into their half for long periods. Play became increasingly
scrappy and ill tempered and resulted in a couple of yellow cards for
both teams. As Spurs were pushing to get a goal to get back into
the game, the ball was lost and Long Lane pounced again to make it 3-0.
As the game drew to a close, one of the Long Lane midfielders was sent
off after receiving her second yellow card.
This was a difficult game against a physical and well-organised team,
but Spurs will have to regroup and recover quickly, as they travel to
Long Lane again next week to face them in the L&SERL.
London &
South-East Regional Women's Football League - Premier Division
Spurs returned to
Long Lane this week, for a league match, having made several changes to
the side.
The first half started with Long Lane trying to impose themselves on
Spurs and after some initial scrappy play, Tottenham settled into their
game and did not allow themselves to be distracted from their game plan.
First Team debutant keeper Lisa McCabe gave an assured display in goal
and was not really called upon to make a save of note. At the
other end, a speculative shot from Jade Perrin at the end of the half
had the Long Lane keeper scrabbling across goal to save and the teams
turned around at 0-0.
At the start of the second half, Spurs grew in confidence and did not
allow Long Lane to impose their physical brand of football on
them. Several opportunities for Spurs resulted in last ditch saves
from the Long Lane keeper, who was by far the busier of the two in the
second half.
However, in the 87th minute Spurs failed to clear from a corner and a
Long Lane midfielder rifled an unstoppable shot into the top
corner. Spurs refused to give up and in the dying seconds of
injury time they got their reward when Sarah Green chased down a ball
and slotted home from an acute angle to tie the game up at 1-1.
It proved to be a much improved performance by the side and the draw
gave Spurs their first point in the new league
London &
South-East Regional Women's Football League - Premier Division
Spurs
travelled to table topping Lewes knowing that they were in for a tough
game against an in-form, free-scoring side. The game started
with Lewes finding their passing game on the immaculate surface more
easily than the Spurs Ladies, who were chasing the game in the very
early stages.
As
the midfield duo of Di Gardiner and Jenna Brailey started stamping their
authority on the game, a pass up field to Julia Sargent split
the defence and she coolly lobbed the advancing keeper to make it 1-0.
Fully
focused, Spurs had to withstand further pressure from Lewes, which was
handled well by the defence and Laura May in goal. Following some
neat inter play, the ball found Rosi Webb on the edge of the box who
turned and curled a shot into the top left hand corner, leaving the
Lewes goalkeeper stranded.
At
the start of the second half the expected onslaught from Lewes came, but
the Spurs back line and defence stood firm. Whenever Lewes were able to
break through they wasted their chances or found no way past May, who
made some excellent saves.
Late
in the game, with Lewes pushing for a consolation goal, Sargent again
broke through, shrugged off the challenge of two defenders to slot home
and make the score 3-0.
A
hard earned victory for Spurs, who continue their rebuilding work with
this young side.
JACKIE FEARON
Tottenham Hotspur
: -
1
Laura
May
8
Carly
Snell
25
Claire
Smith
5
Kelly
Herrett (c) (sub. 13 - Mary
Griffiths)
46
Emma
Jones
4
Jenna
Brailey
9
Geena
Gordon (sub. 19 - Collette McAllister)
2
Di
Gardiner (sub. 22 - Jade Perrin)
17
Sarah
Green
47
Julia
Sargent
14
Rosi
Webb
Unused
Subs
51
- Lisa
McCabe, 7 - Chanelle Breen
Other
results : -
Whitehawk
4 Clapton Orient
1
Gravesend & Northfleet 1
Crowborough 0
Hendon 1 Long Lane 3
Woking 1 London Women 3
Carshalton Athletic 4 Hastings 2
London &
South-East Regional Women's Football League - Premier Division
A tough game for
Spurs saw them lose out 0-2 to an experienced Gravesend side.
Spurs started brightly and Julia Sargent
had a shot that brought a save from the visitor's keeper. G&N
had a rising shot over the bar, but in the 28th minute, they took the
lead following a free-kick that was played into the box and as it
bobbled about, a forward struck a shot over Laura May in goal.
Neither side could find their flow and
the passes that tried to find targets were either picked up or
misplaced. The regular interruption of free-kicks did not help
establish a pattern of play for the match.
Into the second half, Rosi Webb broke
through on the right hand side, but the Gravesend keeper rushed out to
thwart the Spurs striker's attempt. With twenty minutes left,
Gravesend added a second when a player knocked the ball up and hit her
shot low into the net.
Spurs tried to get back into the match,
but were thankful for Laura May's diving save to tip a long shot round
the post.
Tottenham Hotspur
: -
1
Laura
May
25
Claire
Smith
5
Kelly
Herrett (c)
8
Carly
Snell
46
Emma
Jones
4
Jenna
Brailey
31
Katie
Wilde (sub. 19 - Collette McAllister)
2
Di
Gardiner
17
Sarah
Green
47
Julia
Sargent
14
Rosi
Webb (sub. 12 - Ebony Heath)
Unused
Subs
28
- Rochelle
Alexandra, 13 - Mary Griffiths
Other
results : -
Long Lane
0 Woking 1
London Women 0 Whitehawk
4
Hastings United 3 Hendon
1
Crowborough Athletic 3 Carshalton
Atheltic 1
Clapton Orient 0 Lewes Ladies
5
