Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

First Team match reports 2005-06

Crowborough  3      Hastings United  2    
Lewes Ladies  5     Woking   0    
Gravesend & Northfleet  3     Long Lane  2          
Carshalton  1      Whitehawk  9     

Tottenham were holding their own for the first quarter of an hour, but Whitehawk scored with a near post header from a corner to take the lead.  Laura May made a couple of good saves to keep Spurs in it and Jenna Brailey headed just over from Rosi Webb's high ball to the far post.

The game was fought out in midfield and into the second half, Mary Griffiths stopped a header on the line and from the resulting corner a challenge at the far post left Rosi on the floor in pain and the game was held up for 50 minutes waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

When the game restarted, Spurs put the visitors under pressure and although they had a lot of the game at this stage, they failed to trouble the Whitehawk goalkeeper.  In the final five minutes, Whitehawk poured forward and hit the woodwork twice and scored two late goals to make the winning margin larger than Spurs deserved.  It was a good performance against a more experienced side, who look like they might win the league, but it shows that there is still room for Tottenham to improve.

Woking   4   Crowborough  1     
Lewes Ladies  2     London Women  1     
Clapton Orient  1     Gravesend & Northfleet  3    

Whitehawk  6     Hastings United  0    
Gravesend & Northfleet  0     Hendon  1     
Carshalton  1      Lewes Ladies  4     

Spurs started slowly and seemed unable to put two passes together early on and found themselves constantly under pressure.  It came as no surprise when Lewes took the lead after 15 minutes with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

After Lewes scored their second and third goals mid-way through the half, Spurs had their best spell and started to put pressure on the Lewes defence.  Spurs were rewarded just before half time when Jade Perrin intercepted a pass just outside the Lewes penalty area and calmly slotted the ball past the goal keeper. 

Although playing into a strong wind in the second half, Spurs showed a great deal of commitment and kept battling. They were unlucky not to further reduce the deficit when Carly Snell took a quick free kick to Kelly Herrett who had her goal bound shot blocked by a Lewes defender.  Spurs continued to work hard and were unlucky when Lewes scored two quick goals in the last ten minutes.  

JOHN GRIFFITHS

Whitehawk  6     Woking   0    
Hastings United  1     Gravesend & Northfleet  4    

Spurs made several changes from the previous week and took a little time to settle and Hastings had better chances in the first twenty minutes, but the Spurs defence remained resolute.  Spurs started to find their rhythm with probing passes from Gill Blackmore and Carly Snell in midfield finding Faye Callaway, Jade Perrin and Rosi Webb who all went close to scoring.

Tottenham continued to press forward in the second half in search of victory.  Mid-way through the second half Rosi Webb was brought down in the penalty area and Jade Perrin converted the subsequent spot-kick.  With Hastings looking for the equalizer and Spurs trying to reinforce their lead the game was end to end.  Both teams had opportunities, but it was Spurs who increased their lead with minutes remaining, when a defence splitting pass from Dom Clarke found Chanelle Breen just inside the penalty area and her first time shot beat the Hastings goalie.

Almost from the kick-off Hastings attacked and scored.  To the relief of the traveling supporters the final whistle came just after Spurs kicked off to register a well deserved victory for Spurs in their last league match of the season.

Lewes Ladies  1     Whitehawk  1     
Long Lane  4            Hendon  2     
Clapton Orient  3     Woking   2    
Carshalton  1      Crowborough  1     

Woking   1    Gravesend & Northfleet  2    
Whitehawk  9     London Women  0     
Carshalton  P      Long Lane  P           

Spurs fielded a combination of both senior teams in their last game of the season against a Chelsea youth squad.   

The game started confidently for Spurs who were having much of the possession, and this came to fruition when Spurs took the lead from a through ball from Kelly Herrett, which Rosi Webb lobbed over the Chelsea keeper. 

It did not take long for Chelsea to win a free header and to bring the game back to level pegging.  The ball was seen out for a Chelsea corner and a player soon lost her marker for a free header and planted the ball into the back of the net to make the score 2-1.

At half time Spurs made a number of changes as the maximum number of players were given a run-out.  Replacement keeper Lisa McCabe was soon brought into action and made a number of good saves, however she was just unable to get her hands on the screamer from Chelsea that put them 3-1 ahead.  Spurs were not to be deterred and piled on the pressure, however it was not to be and could not get the ball into the back of the Chelsea net.

The senior managers were pleased with the performance from all the Spurs players on the pitch.

JUNE CLARKE

Woking  0     Hendon  1
Hastings  1     Whitehawk  4
Crowborough  0    Gravesend & Northfleet  2
London Women  0      Lewes  9
Carshalton  5     Clapton Orient  1

London Women  3     Hendon  2     
Long Lane  3     Hastings United  3    
Whitehawk  6     Carshalton  0     
Crowborough  0      Woking   1    

London Women  -     
Woking   -    
Hendon  -     
Hastings United  -    
Whitehawk  -     
Crowborough  -     
Lewes Ladies  -     
Long Lane  -           
Clapton Orient  -    
Gravesend & Northfleet  -    
Carshalton  -